Angie: [00:00:00] Small acts can create big access to breast healthcare. This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I talk with Shannon McNair about the supporters who make The Rose’s mission possible and simple ways you can help raise funds for women who need breast cancer screening and care. You don’t have to plan a huge event to make a difference. Share this episode with family and friends, and consider making a donation at therose.org.
Hi, Shannon. Uh, it’s October, my very first Breast Cancer Awareness Month-
Shannon: Yeah …
Angie: uh, as CEO of The Rose, and it’s a very busy month for us, and I’m excited to talk about all that’s in store for this month ahead.
Shannon: It is. Welcome to the world of pink. We’re, we’re glad to have you here. October is, um… I always joke it’s my tax season, for my friends who are in accounting and finance. So we are busy here at The Rose. This is, of course, when everyone thinks about Uh, cancer and breast cancer. Uh, we say, of course, cancer doesn’t care, but this is when everyone’s thinking about it, and thinking about awareness and fundraising and how they can support folks who are going through [00:01:00] breast cancer.
Angie: So Breast Cancer Awareness Month has been an incredible, over the last 41 years- has been just an incredible source of advocacy that has brought so much attention. More women schedule their mammograms in October than any other month. That’s right. Um, and a lot of people, as you said, host fundraisers to really-
Shannon: Yeah
Angie: deepen their impact. And I wondered if you could tell me a little bit about some of the fundraisers that we can expect here.
Shannon: Yeah. So The Rose, we are so blessed every year to have so many people come out and wanna support us here, uh, both locally and national organizations as well. Um, they know our reputation, so they, even though we may not impact their community, they, they wanna know the money is going to women directly impacting the community, and we’re here to do that. And so there are so many things going in October. You got to go to your first Breast Cancer- I- … Awareness event, which is a fun one at Nice Winery. We love those guys.
Angie: Oh, I had so much fun, and I know that their Rose Rosé is continuing- on sale through the end of October. Right. And those proceeds come to The Rose. And [00:02:00] Ryan Levy and Ian Estvedt were incredible hosts-
Shannon: Yeah …
Angie: and so generous. I think that’s been going on three years.
Shannon: Yeah, I think going on many years, uh, them supporting The Rose, and we’re so glad every year they come back bigger and better than ever and raise-
Angie: It’s so much fun …
Shannon: more money, and again, with all of their s- their members and their supporters. And who doesn’t enjoy rosé wine? So, you know, a good glass of wine, and you can support, uh-
Angie: Oh, I bought a case
Shannon: … yeah, yes.
Angie: I’ve been drinking it much too quickly, I-
Shannon: Yes …
Angie: I, I, I was gonna say.
Shannon: Yes, yes.
Angie: But it, it really is yummy.
Shannon: It is yummy. So that’s a great, one of the, a longtime supporter that’s just a great local, local organization here supporting c- the community.
Angie: Can you tell us about Serve Up a Cure?
Shannon: Yeah, Serve Up a Cure, they’re in their 25th year. Again, talk about-
Angie: My goodness …
Shannon: a longtime supporter of ours, um, led by Claire Goosey, who’s a survivor and wanted to give back 25 years ago, and she played tennis. So she m- married her passion and her hobby of tennis into a tennis tournament and a gala, and they have raised money for 25 years.
They’ve raised over $800,000 over that time-
Angie: That’s incredible …
Shannon: which is, uh, incredible. You and I were [00:03:00] calculating that kind of mammogram impact, which is, you know … And they’re passionate about the early detection in a screening mammogram.
Angie: Yeah.
Shannon: That’s what they’re really passionate about, that we can bring into the community. Was it 5,000? We did the math.
Angie: More than 5,000 mammograms.
Shannon: More than 5,000 mammograms have been provided by that group alone, and they’ve now expanded. They do a bingo game. Now they’ve added a little pickleball mixer into the, into the fold so they can r- raise even more money and have bigger impact and really engage their supporters into that. Yeah, so 25 years they’ve been going. I can’t believe it. And it’s a great, great organization to work with.
Angie: I can’t wait to go and see. I saw the pictures, and it just looks like so much fun.
Shannon: Yeah, they have a good time. They’re a great group to work with.
Angie: And Little Woodrows is a favorite place of mine. Can you tell me what they’re-
Shannon: Yeah, Little Woodrows. We all have one in the neighborhood. They are all over, and now they’ve expanded their support over the years. They started with just some of their Houston, uh, locations, and now it’s all of Texas.
Angie: Wow.
Shannon: So if you’re listening from anywhere from Midland to San Antonio, Austin, you know, Dallas, Beaumont, or of course the Houston area, Corpus, I believe, has a location too. They’re doing a pink party. So the last, uh, they’re doing [00:04:00] T-shirts and hats all month long that are pink that you can buy that support The Rose. But each individual location is also doing a pink party, and raffles, and things all month long. And you can find out on our website, which we can talk about a little bit later too, on how to find out how to support us.
But we are so grateful for Little Woodrows and all of their brands-
Angie: Yeah …
Shannon: ’cause they’re bringing a lot of their- It’s not just Little Woodrows … you know, their Fast Eddies-
Angie: Yeah …
Shannon: and, and Woody’s Hideaway. They have so many great brands underneath them that are now supporting The Rose, and that’s, it, and, again, a, a good time to go. They’re tying things into college football.
Angie: Yeah.
Shannon: So if you enjoy going watching your favorite team at Little Woodrows, they may be tying in one of their pink parties to support The Rose there.
Angie: Well, we’re so grateful for that-
Shannon: Yeah …
Angie: and for their longtime support.
Shannon: Yeah.
Angie: That really, that really has a lot of impact. And can you tell me about ALIEF School District and what they’re-
Shannon: Yeah. Oh, a long, again-
Angie: How they support The Rose?
Shannon: I can’t say longtime supporters. We’ve had podcast guests come from that. So they’ve supported The Rose both with our mobile, m- our mobile program’s really strong to help their teachers and their staff get their mammograms without having to, to leave work and, and find time to do that. We bring the mobile to them, and then they do a walk every [00:05:00] October. They involve their girls’ clubs.
Angie: Oh, fun.
Shannon: Uh, but all teachers and, and all the kids in the ALIEF elementary and intermediate schools, I believe, and the high schools get involved as well, doing kind of a pep rally.
Angie: Yeah.
Shannon: And they do a walk around th- their track, um, out there, and they have a lot of fun, and again, raise a lot of money to support us, and make sure that everyone has that access to care that we get from these funds.
Angie: That’s amazing. One of my husband’s favorites-
Shannon: Oh …
Angie: is Rudy’s Barbecue.
Shannon: Yep. Uh, well, mine, too. You know, and you wanna start talking barbecue and we have- … a whole different podcast. Uh, but yeah, Rudy’s a longtime supporter, again, with their Pink Cup campaign. They do it statewide. It’s all the Houston area ones support The Rose. Uh, go get your pink cup. You’ll get a free drink as well. And, you know, easily that’s, uh, $14,000 every year to The Rose for their support, and we are just so grateful for that longtime partnership with them. Uh, you know, again, a great Texas brand to be tied to too that we’re excited about.
Angie: I know that, um, there are a number of businesses we’ve just highlighted a few of them. Are, are there any others-
Shannon: So, so many …
Angie: that speak to you?
Shannon: Yeah, there’s, there’s a lot going on. Um, and again, if it’s, I always [00:06:00] say, if it’s food, drink, social activity, there’s something for you going on. Fitness, too. Let’s not just talk about food, even though I could talk about it all day long. But, uh, all the fitness things going on, too.
So of course we had talked about the tennis tournament. There’s golf tournaments. Uh, there’s even a run this year, uh, called Miles for Mammograms in Galveston. So we have a lot of partners in Galveston that get involved. Pirate’s Beach, uh, that community does a walk for us as well. So it’s not just here in Houston, but also our surrounding communities that get involved and support us. Tacos A Go Go is back on with their Ta-Ta Tacos, so we have more information on that. So there’s a lot of restaurants and, um, and organizations here that will do stuff all month long to support The Rose.
Angie: That’s terrific. That’s terrific. And how can people find out about these events?
Shannon: Yeah, so our website, easiest way to go, so therose.org, and then right at the top is the events button, or you can go to therose.org/events, and we will put our events out there. So whether it’s our signature events that we know about, you know, our luncheon and our shrimp boil and that sort of thing, but also these events that go on that are public. So [00:07:00] some events aren’t public. Internal companies do things for us, which is great, but a lot of things are public, and you can go support us.
So if you wanna know where I can go eat in my neighborhood and maybe support The Rose, that’s the place to start. If you wanna find out what the dates are for all the Little Woodrows things going on at your local one, we’ve got that there on that page already, and we’ll be updating it all month long as things come into us and we find out that and, and we want you to know about, go to that page, and you’ll see everything there, including a year-round event.
You can … Jim Shore, Heartwood Creek, um, ornaments, which a lot of people collect that. They do a breast cancer ornament every year, and that’s a, that’s national. Oh, wow. That’s international. Uh, and that’s out there too, so information on that ornament, um, as we get … Again, it’s a new ornament every year. As we get new artwork, we’ll post it there. But with information like that, that you can just find out what you can do year-round too.
Angie: Well, and it has an incredible impact, and we’ll come back that, to that in a moment. We’ve talked a lot about businesses and organizations. But what about individuals? Are they able to host a fundraiser for The, for The Rose?
Shannon: Oh, sure. We have lots of individuals that might do something. Um, [00:08:00] maybe they belong to a, a gym or a small fitness group, and they’ll get together and say, “Hey, in October, let’s sell pink. We’ll all wear pink T-shirts. We’ll all make a donation,” and kind of pass the hat, if you will.
Angie: Yeah.
Shannon: And all of that adds up. We’ve talked about the bigger groups like Serve Up A Cure that have been going forever that raise a lot of money. It all makes a difference.
Angie: Yeah.
Shannon: And, and we have groups that raise $200 or $300, and that’s wonderful. And of course, these larger organizations that do things with backing and support, and they get their sponsorships. So all of it’s welcome. So any individual, if you just have an idea or maybe you have a hobby too-
Angie: Yeah …
Shannon: and you make something, proceeds from sales from October, that can certainly help us, and all of it matters.
Angie: And it, it makes such a big difference in the amount of, in the number of women that we’re able to serve and to make sure that there are no barriers for any woman.
Shannon: Right. Absolutely. This, these are unrestricted funds-
Angie: Yeah …
Shannon: as we like to say. So, you know, we might get great grant money, which is wonderful, but it might be restricted to something specific, um, young women, certain counties or whatever-
Angie: Yeah …
Shannon: that might be. So this, these funds come in and ensure that we don’t say no to a woman who comes in who needs that [00:09:00] mammogram and they’re uninsured.
Angie: Or even need gas money to get to
Shannon: treatment. Yeah, exactly. It allows us to- It helps us, you know- Respond to our greatest need … if we know we need- Yeah … if we need gas cards in our patient navigation team, we know that we have that there. Yeah. So it’s, yeah, it helps support all of the, all of the efforts we have unrestricted, which is wonderful.
And again, you’re supporting women in the community, s- maybe someone you’ve never met, maybe someone who lives down the street and you didn’t know they were uninsured and needed help, and we were there for them because of every $5 or $5,000 that comes in the door.
Angie: It has tremendous impact.
Shannon: Absolutely.
Angie: And really, that community support really sustains The Rose and the ability for us to really to be there where-
Shannon: Uh, community helping community is the backbone-
Angie: We’re needed.
Shannon: Of The Rose, really. With, with insured women coming in is the community-
Angie: Yeah …
Shannon: helping and then these fundraisers throughout the year.
Angie: Yeah. You touched on, uh, on something there that I just wanna circle back to. We were talking earlier about sort of Think Pink in October.
Shannon: Right.
Angie: And about, you know, just about wearing the ribbon and-
Shannon: Sure
Angie: and that a lot of organizations or corporations will sell pink items.
Shannon: Sure.
Angie: Can you, can you expand on that a little bit?
Shannon: Yeah. So a lot of corporations, and we have some that do it in [00:10:00] honor of The Rose. We have an organization that is an internal thing, but they sell pink ribbon things to their employees and donate funds to The Rose. But we all know, we go to the store, we’ll see a cereal box. Anything in the checkout line with, might have a pink ribbon on it this month. You know, notepads. In a restaurant, something might have pink ribbon on it. And it’s always good just to ask and make sure when you’re buying that, ’cause sometimes you’re buying it thinking you’re helping an organization, not just The Rose, but any nonprofit organization in the fight, and maybe it’s not.
Maybe it’s just awareness, which again-
Angie: Yeah …
Shannon: awareness is nice, but if you wanna make sure you’re impacting something, you know, just do your research, and make sure when you’re making that purchase for that pink ribbon that you know it’s going to an organization impacting women with breast cancer.
Angie: Yeah, absolutely. We were talking about impact earlier and that more women schedule their mammograms in October.
Shannon: Yes.
Angie: And that awareness is really a key part of it, but also being able to put some financial oomph to it-
Shannon: Yeah …
Angie: really take us farther in the fight against breast cancer.
Shannon: Absolutely. I mean, if you’re already gonna buy a taco, you might as well go get the, uh, one at Tacos A Go Go that’s [00:11:00] gonna support women in the fight, you know, and, and help someone here locally too.
Angie: How much money does The Rose bring in in third-party fundraisers? Can you start qualifying that?
Shannon: Year annually, and again, we talked about October, but, uh, annually it’s over $700,000.
Angie: That’s incredible.
Shannon: So that’s grown and grown for us. And again, that’s from someone raising a couple hundred dollars to a lot more than that with larger organizations behind it. But that’s year-round. Uh, so we talk about October and awareness, you know, cancer doesn’t care.
Angie: Yeah.
Shannon: So, you know, you don’t have to do it in October. Maybe you’re just now thinking about it. You can do something in the spring. You can do something around Mother’s Day. You can plan for next October if you wanna do some fundraising. But, uh, it’s so important, ’cause that, yeah, $700,000 a year is an amazing amount of funds-
Angie: Amazing …
Shannon: that coming into us to make sure we’re here for that woman who needs us.
Angie: And you said it before, it’s really about community helping community.
Shannon: Right.
Angie: Because this is not one person.
Shannon: No.
Angie: This is hundreds of people-
Shannon: Hundreds
Angie: that help.
Shannon: Maybe thousands.
Angie: Literally hundreds of all…
Shannon: yeah. Yeah. Literally, I don’t think I count all the people that… Because [00:12:00] again, someone could be buying a T-shirt within their corporation, all the folks doing those kind of things, and we’re here to make sure those are successful. We can help people with websites and, and donation pages so they don’t have to… if they don’t wanna handle money, like a lot of folks are like, “I don’t wanna be in charge of handling cash and transferring it in my name to make a check,” we can handle donation pages for organizations. Anything we can do to make it easier-
Angie: Yeah …
Shannon: and make sure that they can, um, make it easy on them, but also easy for their, their individual donors who are Participating in their event, whether it’s an event or something that they’re selling, we can work to help make sure those are all successful, again, because we just want them to be as easy as possible and enjoy what they’re doing in the process and helping women.
Angie: So if someone wants to start or wants to give back, what would you encourage them to do?
Shannon: You know, think about what makes sense for you. Again, don’t make things harder for you, and also don’t set high, lofty goals. I mean, ag- again, we are appreciative of any donation that comes in. But if it’s something you’re already either passionate about or already h- maybe have a hobby or something in your organization you can do, you can [00:13:00] reach out to us. [email protected] is the easiest email to get ahold of our team. And you can just start the conversation.
Angie: Yeah.
Shannon: Like, “I’m thinking about doing X, Y, Z,” and we can let you know if that’s something what we can do. You could just simply start a lunch and learn, maybe at your organization.
Angie: Yeah.
Shannon: Maybe fundraising’s out of reach right now, but, you know, we’re happy to go speak and talk to women about the importance of early detection-
Angie: Yeah
Shannon: the importance of mammograms, um, what The Rose does here in the community, and how they can help. And we’re happy to go do those kind of things, too. C- so it could start out as simply as, you know, we’d like someone to come speak to our organization, you know, at a lunch and learn or a church, and see if we can start with that. And then, of course, we can work on if they wanna do donations or sell tickets to something. Of course, those are all things that we can help work with them on.
Angie: Yeah. Well, and I hate to put you on the spot- about your favorite.
Shannon: Oh, God.
Angie: Um, but perhaps- … you know, over the years, you could talk about one or two things that have been most memorable to you.
Shannon: Yeah. Well, we’ve already talked about Nice Winery, which is-
Angie: Yeah …
Shannon: always a good one. And there’s a lot of… And I love the big groups that we work with.
Angie: Absolutely.
Shannon: You know- And
Angie: every one is special …
Shannon: any, any, any [00:14:00] excuse-
Angie: Again, I know I’m putting you on the spot.
Shannon: Any excuse for me to go have Rudy’s barbecue, um, or a breakfast taco there, uh, is great for me. But, you know, there’s a, a smaller event that was new to us last year that does stick out to me. Because, again, it, it’s a $25 ticket, right? They’re a smaller event that they’re doing to really… They wanted to salute survivors that they knew.
Angie: Yeah.
Shannon: And they have honorees. And they invited us out, and they’re, they are rai- you know, proceeds were coming to The Rose. And I went out there, and two of the honorees were Rose survivors. One, a 25 year. She was uninsured at the time, 25 years ago. I met her daughter there, who is, you know, now an adult. And the other one had only been a survivor for a year-
Angie: Wow …
Shannon: uh, with The Rose. So and they both came and did podcasts and talked. So that kind of thing is great when I think about, it wasn’t about the funds that they raised, although that is amazing, and we are grateful to have it and have that partnership with that group. Um, and they’re doing their event again this year. But to go and meet, everywhere I go, someone will grab me and say, “You helped my mom.”
Angie: Yeah.
Shannon: “You helped my aunt.” That’s … Yeah. “You helped my neighbor. You helped my mom’s best friend back in the day.” And [00:15:00] again, it could’ve been last year, and it could’ve been 20 years ago, and it’s always great to hear those stories of how we were able to help. And a lot of times, that’s who’s running these fundraisers.
Angie: Right.
Shannon: Yeah. Um, either they’re a survivor, and now they’re in a position where they can help others, and they wanna give back. Yeah. Um, or they knew someone impacted by… Even insured women, like, the Survivor to Cure group had insurance but knew how hard it is for someone who didn’t-
Angie: Yeah …
Shannon: and wanted to make a difference in someone’s life. Um, so it, you know, it’s all of those groups, so all of those events make a difference, uh, A to the Rose. But to me personally, when I go out there and talk with them, um, it’s just great to, to see the Rose’s impact. I’m very blessed that I get to go and do that and really hear about the Rose’s impact. So all of the events, large and small, but I do, you know, go to Galveston. They have a golf cart procession.
Angie: Yeah.
Shannon: All decorated golf carts, and we go through the Strand. Beautiful sunny day. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon in Galveston. So they’re all fun, and they’re all different. They’re all different. I can’t describe how different all the events are because we’ve had skydiving in the past, you know? [00:16:00] So there’s a, you know, there’s something for everyone that’s happened, and they’re all a lot of fun
Angie: Well, you mentioned Galveston, and one of the things that struck me when I first came to The Rose is actually how many women come from Gal-
Shannon: Yeah, absolutely …
Angie: galveston to our Featherwood location, our southeast location. We actually have a very strong group of women that come annually from Galveston-
Shannon: Right, absolutely …
Angie: to get their mammograms.
Shannon: Absolutely.
Angie: And so it’s, um, important, I think, to remember that The Rose touches over 45 counties. Right. That we have a large geographic spread, and to be able to serve all the women in those counties-
Shannon: Right.
Angie: This support is just essential. And as you said-
Shannon: Yeah …
Angie: the unrestricted support-
Shannon: Yeah …
Angie: is critical to us-
Shannon: Oh, yeah … being able to meet the needs.
Angie: Yeah.
Shannon: So yeah, the funds are, the funds stay here in our community, right? And the same thing with fundraisers. While a lot of them are in the Greater Houston area or throughout our suburbs, Galveston does have some opportunity in fundraising. Montgomery County has some things. So, or if you’re in those counties, and you wanna do something, you don’t have to be sitting here in Houston for-
Angie: Yeah …
Shannon: for us to wanna work with you and talk with you, and we’ve had things in Brazos Valley and, and out in Baytown, and we’re thrilled for all of those [00:17:00] supporters out in those communities too because, again, yeah, we do reach 45 counties now, so our reach is great, and the need is great.
Angie: Yeah. Well, and we’re talking now in October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month-
Shannon: Right …
Angie: which is really where the concentration, perhaps-
Shannon: Absolutely …
Angie: of these activities happen. But you mentioned before that you’re, that we, uh, work with people year-round to-
Shannon: Yeah …
Angie: to really-
Shannon: Yeah, it’s kind of like your mammogram. It’s great that you’re thinking about it in October, but that doesn’t mean that’s when you should get your mammogram, right? We’re all thinking about it, but year-round, we’re here. We diagnose women year-round, you know? That’s, it, again, cancer doesn’t care. So it’s great to have events. We do have an event in April with our Boobs & Boobs group, Mitchell Intermediate up in Conroe, again, up in our, you know, a northern county.
They do a walk every year in March, and those kind of things are happening all year round. So if you want to do an event, and you’re like, “Ooh, wait, I’m just now thinking of it- Yeah … and I don’t have time,” again, we can talk with you any time of the year. And a lot of folks like to do things around Mother’s Day, ’cause that’s, again, when you’re thinking about the mom in your life who may have been impacted, uh, by breast [00:18:00] cancer, or maybe you are a mom and, and thinking about it. So, uh, year-round, you know, we’re here. Year-round, we have a need. So we’re, we’re happy to ha- work with folks year-round on any event they’re thinking about.
Angie: Yeah. I wanna say thank you to all of those who are helping us this year and that help us year-round, and really just underscore the impact that has for The Rose.
Shannon: Yeah.
Angie: We are part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Shannon: Absolutely.
Angie: Is there anything you would say to our listeners?
Shannon: Oh, just, you know, again, if you’re gonna be aware, be aware specifically. You know, what are you aware of? If you’re of age, getting that mammogram scheduled. If you haven’t scheduled yours this year, make sure you’re getting that scheduled. Make sure your friends are, and they’re thinking about it. You know, we talk about it now. We used to not talk about it, but, you know, get your friends together. We, I, there’s a group that comes in here every year, and they come in as three Or sometimes five, and they get it on the same day, and then they go have a little Mexican lunch and make a day of it.
So, you know, awareness, being specific. What are you aware of? Let’s getting our mammograms scheduled, getting the women in our life to take it seriously and putting themselves first. And then [00:19:00] of course, if you would like to support us financially, happy to host a fundraiser and help you do that. Or find one of our supporters, and you can just go and again, enjoy food or drink or purchase a gift, um, that will support The Rose.
Angie: Absolutely.
Shannon: Yeah.
Angie: Well, thank you, Shannon. I’ve really enjoyed this conversation today.
Shannon: Thank you. Welcome to October. We’ll keep you busy.
Angie: Thank you.
Shannon: Yeah.
Post-Credits: Thank you for joining us today on Let’s Talk About Your Breasts. This podcast is produced by Speke Podcasting and brought to you by The Rose. Visit therose.org to learn more about our organization. Subscribe to our podcast, share episodes with friends, and join the conversation on social media using #LetsTalkAboutYourBreasts. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Consider supporting The Rose. Your gift can make the difference to a person in need. And remember, self-care is not selfish. It’s essential.
