HOUSTON (April 18, 2019) – Susan G. Komen® Houston inducted into its 2019 Pink Honor Roll and Pink Power League its top fundraisers which included Katy resident Jennifer Butler, who supported the 2018 Race for the Cure®. The annual dinner event, held Tuesday, April 16th at The Houstonian Hotel and Conference Center celebrated volunteers whose commitment and dedication jointly raised more than $300,000 to fight breast cancer.
Butler was the second-highest earner, raising $12,707.48 individually and $13,973 as team captain of Just “Cure” It, supported by team members from PV Fluid Products.
“The Race is a reminder every year that I am a survivor, a warrior, and no matter what life throws at me, I can handle it. It is also a reminder that I am not alone, and unfortunately, until we find a cure, there will be others that continue to join this ‘team’. The work that Komen does not only in Houston and the surrounding counties, but around the world, will allow women and men to ‘cross that finish line’ like I did,” said Jennifer Butler, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009.
“I knew then that if there was something I could do to prevent other women from having to hear the words ‘you have cancer’, then I had to do it. My first race was October 2009, after my diagnosis in July, and I have been a Pink Honor Roll member every year since,” said Butler.
The Pink Honor Roll consists of those individuals who raised $1,000 or more, going above and beyond to advance the fight against breast cancer. Pink Power League consists of the teams that raised at least $10,000. Event emcee and 2018 Race Co-Chair, Khambrel Marshall of KPRC, welcomed the honored guests, most dressed in pink, and introduced speaker, Dr. Alastair Thompson, the co-director of Baylor College of Medicine’s Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center. After learning about individualized breast cancer care from Dr. Thompson’s remarks, guests dined on a feast generously underwritten by The Houstonian, and then were formally inducted into the 2019 Pink Honor Roll and Pink Power League.
“Komen Houston is committed to saving lives locally and fighting cancer globally. We are investing more than $1 million in the community through research, grants and direct services. We are grant makers, change makers, and innovators. Every major advance in the fight against breast cancer has been touched by us, and many of those advances have taken place right here in Houston at the world-renowned Texas Medical Center,” said Julie Voss, Executive Director of Susan G. Komen® Houston. “Komen Houston is definitely so much more than ‘pink.’ Komen is where the end of breast cancer begins.”
With more than 8,000 participants, the 2018 Race for the Cure, Komen Houston’s annual signature event, raised more than $1.2 million to invest in research, education, screening and diagnostic services.
Susan G. Komen has long been known for funding research advances to fight breast cancer. Since the inception of its research program nearly 30 years ago, Houston researchers have received $93.5 million for 208 innovative grants to help identify and treat breast cancer. Last year alone, four Houston researchers received grants totaling $2 million. Additionally, through its community grants and direct services, last year Komen Houston provided more than 60,000 screening, diagnostic and support services to uninsured and underinsured women throughout Houston and its six surrounding counties.
Komen Houston’s Board President, Betsy Kamin, shared that Komen receives no fees for services and relies fully on the generosity of its supporters, who are rallied by volunteers like this year’s inductees.
The 2019 Komen Houston Race for The Cure® is scheduled for Saturday, October 5th. For more information, visit www.komen-houston.org or call 713-783-9188.
Images of local resident and the 2019 Pink Honor Roll event can be found here.
ABOUT SUSAN G. KOMEN® HOUSTON
SUSAN G. KOMEN® HOUSTON is committed to saving lives locally and fighting breast cancer globally. Komen Houston is the only local breast cancer organization attacking the disease on all fronts through education, screening, treatment, support, advocacy and research and has set a Bold Goal to reduce the current number of breast cancer deaths by 50 percent by 2026. The organization serves women and men throughout Harris and its surrounding six counties battling breast cancer by removing barriers to care and eliminating health disparities.