“Cancer doesn’t stop for Covid”

For over 20 years the Susan G. Komen-Ozark Affiliate has been assisting and educating Arkansas breast cancer patients, getting landmark legislation passed and funding important cancer research. But in March of this year, their mission faced a new challenge in the form of the Covid-19 virus. “Covid definitely threw everyone and everything for a loop,” Lauren Marquette, Susan G. Komen-Ozark Affiliate Executive Director began. “In the beginning of Covid no one really knew what it was going to look like. So there was a recommendation for women to put off their health screens and mammograms until later in the year thinking that the health care systems would just be inundated with Covid-19 patients, which did turn out to be the case. But now we are concerned with women who have put off their testing, when can they get in to be screened and, if they indeed have cancer, has it grown over the past few months. So at this time we don’t really know the extent of how this pandemic will have hurt cancer patients.” The virus has also had an effect on the work the nonprofit does in the community. “One of the big things that we do is patient navigation,” Lauren continued. “When a woman gets diagnosed or has an abnormal mammogram, our patient navigators will reach out to the woman and see what she needs and how we can help.” Often times, if a woman doesn’t have family in the area or a support system, or maybe doesn’t speak English, the navigators go with them to appointments, meet with them and answer questions and serve as an educated listener. “Obviously, most of that can’t happen right now,” Lauren said. “Our navigators can’t be with the person or go to appointments with them. So we’ve had to get creative in how we serve them, a lot of face time and virtual calls. They have done an amazing job trying to keep our clients safe and still help them out.” The women going through treatment are also facing added issues with the pandemic like losing their jobs or not being able to go to work because they have no immune system and it would put them in harms way. To help address this, the organization partnered with Hope Cancer Resources and together they were able to provide thirty-five breast cancer patients with financial assistance. So every aspect of how they help has had to be adjusted in this time of Covid-19. Another big adjustment has been in the area of fundraising. “We are going through what a lot of nonprofits are going through, we just are not raising the same amount of money that we were,” Lauren explained. “So we are trying to be more creative, just like we’ve been creative in the way we service the women out there who need our help. The majority of our fundraising comes from events like our More Than Pink Walk. The march usually happens in April but because of Covid-19 we moved it to September thinking everything would be back to normal by then, but obviously that isn’t the case so we made the decision to move everything virtual.” They are also putting on a golf tournament in September at the Shadow Valley Country Club where they will be following all of the social distancing protocols. Plus, they will hold a virtual version of their annual Pink Ribbon luncheon on Wednesday, October 21. “We are excited to have a guest speaker for the luncheon who is the executive director of Komen in Virginia,” Lauren said. “She is not only currently being treated for breast cancer but also came down with Covid-19 so she has an inspiring story to tell.” “We know that when you change to a virtual event you have to adjust your fundraising goals, that’s just how it is,” Lauren said. “But given these times, with people being furloughed and losing their jobs, we understand some folks just can’t give right now. Still, cancer doesn’t stop for Covid so we feel we need to push on with our mission to get help to those who need it.” If you would like to contribute to the Susan G. Komen-Ozark Affiliate visit komenozark.org

Lauren Marquette, Executive Director, Susan G. Komen-Ozark Affififiliate