Dorothy: [00:00:00] Our next guest is Jennifer Pareya. Jennifer has been raising money for The Rose for over two decades. And it started with the Lighthouse Pub when she helped her mom and dad hold fundraisers just for The Rose. And then she moved to Bikers Against Breast Cancer. And finally, she is our Shrimp Boil champion for the adult beverage stand. And she finds a way to get people to donate everything. And then she goes out and finds volunteers to work it. Jennifer knows the importance of a mammogram ever since her mother was diagnosed some 24 years ago. She makes it a point to bring two insured women when she has her appointment at The Rose because she knows that for every three insured women we can screen one uninsured woman.
Jennifer’s here today to talk about what it means to be a part of the fundraising community for The Rose and how many people she knows that the Shrimp Boil has [00:01:00] convinced to have their mammograms. She knows that that could save a woman’s life.
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Jennifer, thank you so much for being with us today. It’s just a delight to have you here.
Jennifer: Well, thank you for having me, Dorothy. It’s my pleasure.
Dorothy: I tell you, you have such a history with The Rose. Now, tell me how long you’ve been a part of the Shrimp Boil Committee.
Jennifer: I want to [00:02:00] say 22 or 23 years. I’m going to have to Go and count.
Dorothy: I know. I, I keep trying to figure out when Mark came, when Judy came, and go back to those, those really old days.
Jennifer: 2022 is when they came aboard.
Dorothy: 2002.
Jennifer: 2020— 2002, sorry.
Dorothy: Right. That’s—
Jennifer: 2002 is when, uh.
Dorothy: Where were we at that time? We hadn’t moved to the convention center, had we?
Jennifer: We were at the Kyle Chapman Annex.
Dorothy: Yes. Yes. Yes. Outgrew that pretty fast, didn’t we?
Jennifer: Yes, we did.
Dorothy: All right, tell me what the Shrimp Boil is all about.
Jennifer: To me, the Shrimp Boil is about being with friends and family for a good cause. We get together, we eat, drink, dance, play games, and just, you know, It’s sort of like a big family reunion. It’s a great time. It’s a great time to see old friends that you only see once a year or family members that come in town for [00:03:00] that special reason. So it’s a great time.
Dorothy: Yeah, and it is one of our primary fundraising events. It is our largest fundraising event as when it comes to people and uh, it’s something like 400 a table. You can come in, have it reserved. You got a place to sit. You can be with your friends and your family. But what was it that originally brought you to doing anything for The Rose?
Jennifer: Well, once my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she went through her treatments, she decided, you know, we need to do something for The Rose. They helped me and our family. We need to give back. At the time, my parents owned a small bar and we did a fundraiser and we called it Jammin’ for the Cure. And we had local musicians, we started barbecue, we did 50 50s, some raffle, auction items, [00:04:00] and raised quite a bit of money in one day.
Dorothy: Oh, you sure did.
Jennifer: And it was a great time. And after that, uh, We said, you know what, we need to continue helping with The Rose.
Dorothy: So you go back, even before Shrimp Boil, even before Bikers, because you were part of that original committee for the Bikers Against Breast Cancer.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: To jam in for a— what did we call it?
Jennifer: Jammin’ For the Cure.
Dorothy: Yes. And I’ll never forget going into the, was it called the—
Jennifer: Lighthouse Pub?
Dorothy: The Lighthouse Pub, and going, What is this place? I mean, it was wall to wall, and people were playing darts, and all kind of different things. It was just, it was a wild, fun party.
Jennifer: I think it was It was bigger and better than we had anticipated.
Dorothy: It was a lot of fun.
Jennifer: It was a good time.
Dorothy: So when your mother was diagnosed, did you, were you worried about her? Did you, did it ever cross your mind that she might not make it [00:05:00] through those treatments?
Jennifer: Honestly, no, because it was such early detection. She had just had a mammogram the year before. Clear, clear mammogram. We have no family history. So, I just felt like it was just, okay, they found it and remove it and treatment and we’re good. I guess that’s why she’s such a strong woman. We never— She didn’t show us that vulnerable side that she didn’t think she would make it, but no, I never personally felt she’s not going to make it. She’s still here today with us.
Dorothy: She is. Long time. Very long time. And you started your mammograms.
Jennifer: Immediately.
Dorothy: Immediately. And I know that you, you’ve had a reputation for bringing in two other insured women to help us take care of that one uninsured person? I mean, y’all were our poster children, or women, when we started that [00:06:00] program, because you always brought somebody with you.
Jennifer: And we still do.
Dorothy: Yes, you still do.
Jennifer: We make it a fun afternoon. We meet, get our mammograms, and then we’ll go have dinner or late lunch together and visit and talk.
Dorothy: You make it an all day affair.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: And it’s really about pampering yourself in so many ways, taking care of yourself. I mean, I think if we could turn mammograms into Margarita and mammograms or something like that, that would be fun.
Uh, you know, maybe we’d have a lot more women ready to have their appointment. It’s very hard for women to take care of themselves and do all the things they need to do to take care of themselves. You’re a working woman. You know how hard that is.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: Yes.
Jennifer: Self care.
Dorothy: Mm hmm.
Jennifer: All the way. You know, you, you take care of your well woman and your breast and you hopefully live a long, healthy life.
Dorothy: Healthy life. Now your job at the [00:07:00] Shrimp Boil is to be in control of our wine and beer stand, right?
Jennifer: I like how you said in control.
Dorothy: You are in control. We tried one time to take that job away from Jennifer and it was like, are you out of your mind? How do you get people to donate to, I mean, we’re talking about beer and wine. You get people to donate so much.
Jennifer: We, uh, just ask. I just ask people that know our family, know our family history with The Rose. People that have come to The Rose Shrimp Boil in the past there. And I also let them know it can be as little as five dollars. It all helps. And I make a private little invite with my friends and family and ask them for money. That’s all I do. And over the years we’ve grown enough to where we’re paying for all the beer and wine. So [00:08:00] it’s no money out for The Rose. It’s all profit.
Dorothy: Yes. Yes. And you do have some distributors that help.
Jennifer: Yes, we, we have Silver Eagle Distributor.
Dorothy: Right.
Jennifer: They, give us a nice sized donation, and in years past, they’ve helped us with the beer.
But yes, we have contributions from beer people and just local neighborhood people that live in the community.
Dorothy: How many tables do you think you and your family and friends fill up every year?
Jennifer: Oh, goodness. Thirty?
Dorothy: I mean, it’s a bunch, yes.
Jennifer: At least?
Dorothy: Yeah, every year you’d bring another group and, and that’s why this does feel like such a family reunion.
We, we see people year after year. It may be the only time we get to see them.
Jennifer: Yes, sometimes.
Dorothy: And I do think, I’ve, I’ve heard some of our employees [00:09:00] say, This is when you see The Roses mission in action. When you see people who have come to us that did need help at a certain time in their life, and, you know, they come back every year just to be with us and help support us. Many, many, just like your mom, many of our, our ladies have turned around and paid it forward so many more times than what, what bit we did to get them through that time.
Jennifer: Yes, I would like to go back to, um, the uninsured women, that The Rose helps, because I was an uninsured woman at one time, and The Rose sponsored me to have my mammograms when I was uninsured.
Dorothy: I didn’t know that.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: Interesting. You know, we, we always, we don’t always know. Just like we say our radiologists don’t know. It’s, you know, you’re a patient.
Jennifer: I was uninsured and I, I, I was a [00:10:00] patient. So, but now I have insurance and I continue to come here.
Dorothy: That is a big message to everyone. Yes.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: All right. Tell us a favorite memory at the Shrimp Boil.
Jennifer: Well, one of my favorite memories, I actually have two, but this is the number one that stands out. So my Aunt Ella had made a beautiful quilt called Waltz Across Texas and my friend Scott, he wanted to buy this quilt for his wife Allison.
So, She was out of town. He came to his first Shrimp Boil and he said, I need you to bid for me. I can’t do it. I was so nervous. I was so nervous bidding, spending someone else’s money. He won the quilt, $10,000 later.
Dorothy: I know.
Jennifer: We were shaking.
Dorothy: We were all shaking.
Jennifer: It was so exciting.
Dorothy: Oh my gosh, we were so excited. It was like, it went up again, it [00:11:00] went up again.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: You know, one more bid.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: I have never seen our crowd that excited.
Jennifer: It was, it was exciting.
Dorothy: It was. $10,000 for a quilt’s huge.
Jennifer: It’s, it’s very huge. And she has that laying on her bed at home. It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful. I have to go in and look at it every time I go to their house for a visit.
Dorothy: It was such a special tribute to her.
Jennifer: Yes, it was a lot of fun. And my other favorite memory goes to last year when another Aunt Ella Thomas quilt was made, an Astros quilt, and my boyfriend, uh, purchased that quilt and she was, Ella was eyeballing me across the room like, I’ll make you a quilt. I’ll make you a quilt! Stop! Stop! And my boyfriend Ishmael said, Get it. We’re gonna get it.
Dorothy: Oh, [00:12:00] that was—
Jennifer: And like you to know, we, we have her last quilt. We lost her last year, so our family has her, that quilt she made.
Dorothy: I think that is such a precious memory.
Jennifer: Yes, it is. And I also have her very first quilt she made for The Rose Shrimp Boil.
Dorothy: Oh! Did you purchase it or?
Jennifer: My father and I did. It was in a silent auction at the Kyle Chapman. And that was 2003, I believe. It’s labeled. I can confirm that, but I believe it’s 2003. And my dad and I purchased it together because we were trying to outbid each other. And I said, let’s just do it together. We’ll keep it in the family.
Dorothy: Yes.
Jennifer: And I think we spent like 300 bucks to us. That was a lot.
Dorothy: $300 is a lot, especially then. Absolutely. So, So, why do you think the Shrimp Boil has lasted 35 years?
Jennifer: Consist, [00:13:00] consistency. It’s always good food, a good time. Good cold A. C. when it’s so hot outside. It’s just, you know you’re going to have a good time. If you can go for an hour, if you can go for the entire four hours, you’re going to have a good time during that timeframe.
Dorothy: That’s right. That’s right. There’s so much going on.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: You can’t keep up with all of it.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: And we have such a great live auction.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: Full of experiences or.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: Nice, nice items and, and unique items too.
Jennifer: Yes.
Dorothy: So you won’t find it anywhere else.
Jennifer: It’s a lot of fun.
Dorothy: It’s a lot of fun. Well, Jennifer, thank you so much for being with us all these years. I mean, I was trying to add up a while ago, I thought, you’ve almost been doing something for The Rose as long as I have. That’s, that’s pretty impressive.
Jennifer: It’s a lot of fun. Yeah.
Dorothy: Yeah. You’ve, you’ve brought a lot of goodwill [00:14:00] and you’ve convinced a lot of people to go have their mammograms. And that’s the other part of the Shrimp Boil. It gives us one more opportunity to talk about why women need it. And also to talk about there’s a place for the uninsured to go.
Jennifer: Yes. It’s a great organization, The Rose, and I will always continue to back The Rose as long as I can.
Dorothy: Thank you so much. Thanks for being here today.
Jennifer: Thank you for having me. It was my pleasure.
Post-Credits: Thank you for joining us today on Let’s Talk About Your Breasts. This podcast is produced by Speak 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 [00:15:00] essential.
