Regular readers of this blog will recall a video interview that was posted here in April with Cheryl Osimo, Outreach Coordinator for the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition and Cape Coordinator of the Silent Spring Institute, both non-partisan, charitable organizations in Massachusetts. This post is a chance to catch up with Cheryl and see what she is doing this summer to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer prevention and research.
Well, the attempt was made to catch up with Cheryl, which is not an easy thing to do. Saturday, June 23rd was a beautiful day, just the perfect day for a fund-raising event at lovely Hopkinton State Park in Hopkinton, MA. I joined Kerstin and her husband Tony and dozens and dozens of volunteers at the 15th Annual Against the Tide festivities. Participants who have raised a certain amount of money for the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition (“MBCC”) could join in the various swim/walk/kayak events and have some fun for a very good cause. We caught up with Cheryl Osimo at around 7:00 am, and, after our brief visit to the coffee stand, went to work registering participants and handing out some ‘goodie bags’ and T-shirts to the volunteers and event participants.

Cheryl was incredibly busy organizing people and directing traffic. When I did get a chance to catch up with her, she told me that some of the folks from the DYS Homeward Bound program were unable to participate this year due to budgeting problems, but DYS area director, John Brennan, sent supervisors and kids from all over MA to help. Mr. Brennan also attended and helped out keeping the activities and volunteers going.

<!-more-> It takes an incredible number of very dedicated people to make events like this work. These are all people who, for the most part, have ‘day jobs’ and donate time to MBCC and Silent Spring Institute in their off-time. Many of the people at the fund-raiser had lost friends or loved ones to cancer and were proud to be able to do something to fund research into the causes of cancer. The motto of the MBCC is “Prevention is the Cure” and there were a lot of people who want to help the MBCC continue its work of exposing the nature of environmental toxins and the link between breast and other cancers and various pollutants in the air, ground and water in their communities.

The MBCC has a FAQ on their website that talks about the Precautionary Principle. This clearly state what this is:

What is the Precautionary Principle?

The idea of precaution has been handed down to us in the form of maxims, such as “a stitch in time saves nine,” or “better safe than sorry,” or “look before you leap.” The Precautionary Principle says that if there is a possibility of harm (instead of scientifically proven certainty of harm) to human health or the environment from a substance or activity, precautionary measures should be taken; the proponent of the activity should be required to prove that the activity is safe, rather than the public being required to prove that it is hazardous, the victims having to prove what has harmed them.

The Silent Spring Institute, located in Newton, MA, tries to do some of the research into the chemicals in products Americans use everyday that are not tested for carcinogens or other harmful health effects. Senator Kerry has often claimed that the current US Government and Food and Drug Administration are not doing enough pro-active work to guard US consumers from harmful chemicals in every day use. If the US Government followed the precautionary rules cited above, then a more pro-active FDA would be engaged in oversight on products like cosmetics, and cleaning products and so forth. MBCC in their efforts to inform the public about health problems and exposure to carcinogens in every day use is a performing a wonderful service for the people of Massachusetts and the country. Senator Kerry helped obtain some grants for research into “Green Chemical” production at UMass Amherst, a goal that is in line with that of the non-partisan MBCC.

All of which leads us back to that lovely beach in Hopkinton. This was a fun event. Various local businesses had donated fruit drinks, breakfast foods, coffee and bottled water for the crowd. A lot of people had a good time, a lot of information was given out and some wonderful volunteers and coordinators had a great time. There is another Against the Tide event planned for Brewster, MA for August. (This will be the 8th Against the Tide event to be held at Nickerson State Park down on the Cape. Check out the MBCC site for more information. )

Thank you, Cheryl, for your warm invitation to come to this event, and thanks to the wonderful people we met yesterday from the MBCC including Deborah Shields, MBCC Executive Director and the wonderful people from the Silent Spring Institute who shared their time and stories with me. Hope to see you again in August in Brewster, MA for the next swim/walk/kayak Against the Tide event.