Throughout the month of November, the members of Hockey World Blog will participate in “Movember,” a charitable movement where men grow (or attempt to grow) moustaches in support of health and well-being in addition to cancer awareness and prevention in men.
As participants of the movement, each member of Hockey World Blog shaved his face and will spend the entire month of November growing and grooming his moustache. However, while we fully support men’s health issues, we have decided to throw our support behind another cause that hits closer to home.
In early 2005, Matt and Chris, two of the founding members of Hockey World Blog, were informed that their mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After diagnosis, the doctors only gave her a few months to live. While she beat out the doctor’s initial estimations, Peggy Austin eventually lost her battle with pancreatic cancer in August 2005.
Over 44,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year. Of those, 94 percent will lose their battle within five years of diagnosis. A staggering 74 percent will lose their battle within the first year. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is just three to six months. Pancreatic cancer remains the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States largely due to the lack of effective detection tools that can be used to diagnose the disease in its early stages when surgery removal of the tumor is still a possible treatment option. According to the Hirschberg Foundation, despite these statistics, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) spent an estimated $97.1 million on pancreatic cancer research in 2010. This represented a mere 2% of the NCI’s approximate $5 billion cancer research budget for that year.
In support of this cause, the members of Hockey World Blog are asking for your donations. Every penny counts and even the smallest donation will support a great cause. So throughout November, we ask that our readers help us raise money to help raise awareness about pancreatic cancer and help fight this terrible disease.
Hockey World Blog will match the first $500 worth of donations made. So if our readers can combine for $500, we will match an additional $500 to donate a total of $1,000 to pancreatic cancer research and awareness. Hockey World Blog will also auction off memorabilia throughout the month of November with 100 percent of the proceeds going to charity.
Donations can be made to Hockey World Blog’s pancreatic cancer page at www.pancreatic.org/fund/hwb.
For more information on how you can participate or help our cause, please contact EB at EB@hockeyworldblog.com. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support!
