Thanks to all of our teams, and the groups of volunteers who stayed with us throughout the day to shag balls in the outfield as the sun beat down on them…that’s dedication! We had groups from AT&T, Best Buy, YTI Career Institute and the Altoona Curve Junior. We couldn’t have been there without you, thanks for your support!

Check out the list of teams below, and our solo home run hitter!

• Community State Bank of Orbisonia – 1,580 points (Altoona Winners!)
• Central PA Community Foundation – 1,170 points
• PSU Altoona Grounds Crew – 785 points
• The Sky’s the Limit – 780 points

Home Run Hitters:

• Scott Knepper from Community State Bank of Orbisonia—1

Thanks to everyone who came out, including the staff of the Altoona Curve for their help and enthusiasm at our event. View all of the photos from the Altoona Derby at Peoples Natural Gas Field here.

Thanks to all of our teams and spectacular volunteers at the Washington Wild Things. Check out the lineup of teams and individual batters below:

• Neuman’s Crew – 2,050 points (Washington Winners!)
• Bill Klenoshek’s Team – 1,425 points
• Representative Rob Matzie’s Team – 955 points
• Washington Financial Bank – 930 points
• Individual Batter Bill Klenoshek – 675 points

Congratulations to batter Bill Klenoshek, who is currently our overall individual batter winner with 675 points and of course our 7-home-run-batter Joe Oliphant!  Thank you to everyone who came out to the Washington Derby, and special thanks to the staff at Consol Energy Park for your support and entertainment throughout the day! Our volunteers truly appreciated the dance music in between batters! Everyone that was there made this a very energetic, silly and successful event for the PBCC. View all the photos from our day at the ballpark here.

• TESCO Tools Team 2 — 1,760 points (Erie Winners!)
• Icing on the Lake Team 2 — 1,575 points
• Icing on the Lake Team 1 — 1,210 points
• UPMC — 1,110 points
• Erie Times News — 1,095 points
• Enterprise Bank Team 1 –1,065 points
• Enterprise Bank Team 2 – 1,050 points
• TESCO Tools Team 1 – 1,015 points
• Marquette Savings Bank Team 1 — 885 points
• Best Buy Team 2 – 850 points
• Best Buy Team 1 — 815 points
• Go Erie.com — 805 points
• Marquette Savings Bank Team 2 — 740 points
• Individual Batter Blair Beer — 400 points
• Individual Batter Adam Edmonds — 350 points
• Individual Batter Jeff Ebersole — 280 points

Congratulations as well to all of our home run hitters:

• Brian King from TESCO Tools Team 2 — 1
• Eric Harpster from Icing on the Lake Team 2 –1
• Dustin Coleman from Icing on the Lake Team 2 — 1
• Jordan Bergado from Icing on the Lake Team 1 –2
• Blair Beer, Individual Batter –1

View all of the day’s photos at the Erie SeaWolves here. It was a fantastic day despite the weather as we raised awareness and funds for breast cancer survivors throughout the state. Special thanks to the great staff and management at the Erie SeaWolves, the PBCC staff loves their pink SeaWolves hats! Check out coverage of the event on GoErie.com and stay tuned for our next blog update! Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter (@PBCC) for live updates from each derby. Until next time!

Check out the batting totals for the day, along with the list of home run hitters:

• Furlong Boys Team 2—2,105 points (Reading winners!)
• Cross’ Crusaders – 1,795 points
• Furlong Boys Team 1 – 1,745 points
• Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute —1,685 points
• Shillington Steal – 1,425 points
• Landrum Lumberjacks – 1,325 points
• Bethlehem Bombers – 1,135 points
• Donegal Insurance Cancer Crushers Team 1 – 1,130 points
• Swinging for Second Base—970 points
• Wells Fargo Team 2 – 750 points
• Wells Fargo Team 1—650 points
• Donegal Insurance Cancer Crushers Team 2—640 points
• UPMC – 395 points
• Individual Batter Jeffrey Lengle – 375 points
• Individual Batter Greg Gunter – 310 points
• Individual Batter Brad Schneider – 185 points

Home Run Hitters:

• John Furlong from Furlong Boys –8
• Shane Monahan from Cross’ Crusaders – 1
• Billy Bonfig from Cross’ Crusaders – 1
• Bob Monahan from Cross’ Crusaders – 1
• Kevin “Bubba” Becker from Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute – 5
• Ryan Hatfield from Shillington Steal – 1
• Craig Holman from Shillington Steal – 2
• Pete Baylor from Landrum Lumberjacks – 1
• Brett Landrum from Landrum Lumberjacks – 1

Special thanks to all of our batters & volunteers, as well as the energetic friends, family and coworkers who came out to cheer on the teams. Even Screwball came out to show his support for breast cancer awareness!  Together, you made the day a huge success. Additional thanks to the incredible staff at the Reading Phillies for their help in putting this day together, and to our media partners of Blue Ridge Cable 11 news for covering the event.  View all of the Reading photos here. Next stop: Erie SeaWolves on Thursday! Remember to follow us live on Twitter (@PBCC) for live coverage of all of our home run derby events.

Sovereign Bank Stadium’s 37.7 foot wall at the York Revolution didn’t stop our batters from hitting it out of the park at the Take a Swing Against Breast Cancer® home run derby on Thursday, July 12. A total of 12 teams and 20 volunteers helped make our second home run derby of the season a huge success; AND we found our first home run hitter, Brad McCullough of PeoplesBank Team 3, at the event. Congratulations to Brad for his home run and high score of 525 points!

Check out the breakdown of team scores at York Revolution:

• PeoplesBank Team 3—1,895 points (York Winners!)
• Parentebeard—1,285 points
• PeoplesBank Team 2—1,240 points
• Johnson Controls—1,215 points
• Hall of Shamers – 1,140 points
• Reinsel Kuntz Lesher Team 2—1,050 points
• FOX43 News—1,040 points
• PeoplesBank Team 4—1,020 points
• PeoplesBank Team 1—960 points
• Team Hard Body—945 points
• Reinsel Kuntz Lesher Team 1—865 points
• UPMC—710 points

Additional thanks to the staff and players of the York Revolution, and to our media partners who showed up at the stadium: the York Dispatch and FOX43 news. Be sure to tune in to FOX43 on Friday, July 20^th at 10:00 pm to catch coverage of the home run derby. View all of the York Revolution photos here. Next up: Take a Swing Against Breast Cancer at the Reading Phillies. Follow the action LIVE on twitter (@PBCC) and look for the recap here on our blog!

We are shooting for a goal of raising $100,000 through the Home Run Derby this year and need YOUR help to get there. If you want to step up to the plate as a batter, register today. If you want to volunteer your time for a specific location, please complete the volunteer form. If your business is interested in sponsorship opportunities, check them out! See you out at the ballpark!

We are also looking for a few good volunteers. If you and your co-workers, your children, or your neighbors would like to shag a few baseballs in the outfield, we can use your help! Volunteer registration is also available online.

Be sure to check out our July touring schedule and mark your calendars now! If you have any questions or need assistance through the registration process, call the batter’s box (ok, not really) but reach out to Kevin at Kevin@PABreastCancer.org or 800-377-8828 x109.

With such a large state to work in, we are tasked with what seems impossible with eight full-time employees. Volunteers make the mission of the PBCC achievable. In 2011, we had 302 individuals from all over PA give up their time for a greater good. Jobs included reviewing Refunds for Breast Cancer Research grant applications, presenting or moderating a workshop at our conference, staffing an information table at a health fair, speaking at a fundraiser, shagging baseballs at a Home Run Derby, assembling and customizing Friends Like Me Care Packages, and many more.

The only thing we can say (and we say it every day): thank you. Thank YOU for donating your valuable time to the mission of the PA Breast Cancer Coalition. In total, we had 1738.5 hours logged by volunteers across the state. That is OUTSTANDING! Volunteers saved the PBCC $37,134.36 in 2011! I don’t need to tell you that this is incredible!

Thanks to people like you, we are able to keep our doors open and serve the women and families of this great state! Stay tuned for opportunities to get involved at various events across Pennsylvania. If you don’t already receive our monthly e-newsletter Pink Link, sign up! And if you’re interested in volunteering, complete our interest survey and we’ll be in touch!

Here’s to 2012!

The book is guaranteed to take you on a roller coaster ride of emotions, leaving you laughing, crying, and inspired. Downloads are $9.99 and paperback copies are $15. Special thanks to Tammy for pouring her heart and soul into this project and choosing to work with the PBCC!

I became involved with the PBCC at its very beginning. Four years after my diagnosis I was invited to a meeting about a new organization that was just starting up. That was a good year, 1993. The PBCC was created and so was the ABC’S (All Breast Cancer Survivors) support group in Carlisle, and I’m still very involved with both groups. The PBCC gave me the wings I needed to fly and to do more than I had done before. I was able to speak to groups, become involved in advocacy, and to be a helping hand to newly diagnosed women. That’s when I really blossomed.

People ask me why I’m still involved with support group after so many years. It’s my way of showing appreciation for what was offered to me. With a diagnosis of any kind, you can crawl in a corner and have a lifetime pity party. I opted not to do that. My kids were 14 and 20 years old so I could talk with them and share whatever the doctor told me. My heart breaks for moms whose small children only know that mommy is sick. I knew everyone around me would respond to whatever way I accepted the diagnosis. My theory is when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I made a lot of lemonade.

I discovered a lump in August 1988 and had a mammogram right away. It seemed to be nothing more than just a thickening. I was scheduled to see my doctor again in January and that suited me just fine. After all, my husband Ralph coached soccer and my son Mark played. So I wanted to get through soccer season, Thanksgiving and Christmas first. But before Christmas my breasts became engorged and the nipple inverted. I knew I had a problem. A biopsy confirmed that the milk ducts had filled with a malignancy.

I had a modified radical mastectomy at the age of 44. I had positive nodes and underwent six months of chemotherapy, 12 treatments twice a month. I was fortunate to have a surgeon who was informative and a hand-holder, a very understanding and compassionate person.

I learn something from the incredible group of women in the ABC’S every time we get together. I learn from their drive, and from how they fight to make things better for those who will follow. I’ve also been awed by the dear friends we’ve lost from our group and how courageous they were. They taught us to be brave and to look at life as a gift and to continue to care about others.

I want other women to know that they are not alone, especially in Pennsylvania. First of all, you have the PBCC. And you have free treatment for breast cancer. We are very blessed in this state. Having breast cancer is like joining a club… a group that you never really want to join, but once diagnosed you are grateful for the women who take your hand and walk you through it. They are your friends for life.

Karen Byers has been a PBCC volunteer since 1993. She coordinates the registration booth at the conference with the ABC’S, and represents Cumberland County in our traveling photo exhibit. Karen was a past recipient of the Shining Light Award at the PBCC Conference. She loves spending time with the lights of her life, her grandchildren.