JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- They had a blast decorating Buddy Bras. And if anybody deserves to laugh and giggle a bit, it's this group of young cancer survivors. Their name is Live for Today and they are helping us raise funds to buy a mobile mammography unit: The Buddy Bus.
It's our project with Baptist/MD Anderson to help more women catch breast cancer early. We need to raise one million dollars to buy the mobile unit, which will travel to six local counties to make sure more women are getting mammograms. Right now less than 50% are getting regular mammos.
Kaitlyn Ash, leader of the non-profit Live for Today, says the Buddy Bus is something they wanted to support because they believe in being active. Ash says instead of sitting around in a hospital talk group and "singing Kumbaya, we go ice skating and rock climbing and have dinner together."
And during one of their dinner gatherings, the members decorated Buddy Bras, each a $20 donation to buy the Buddy Bus.
Travis Martin put beach designs on his because he loves our beaches. And he's grateful to be alive to enjoy them.
Martin says, "I was born and raised in Jacksonville and I had stage 4 brain cancer...I think God had the right people in my life and saved me."
The Live for Today group encourages young people to support each other, and members see common struggles, no matter what type of cancer they deal with.
So just because the Buddy Bus is focused on breast cancer doesn't mean Martin won't help the cause.
Martin says, "It doesn't matter that we're not all breast cancer survivors. No, cancer doesn't discriminate."
Both Ash and Martin say the Buddy Bra opportunity gives them a chance to get their message out, as well. And that message is young people are often diagnosed late with cancer because too often doctors view them as healthy and too young to be a cancer patient.
And thank you to the group for helping us raise funds for the Buddy Bus.
If your group or school or office can do any type of fundraiser, Jeannie Blaylock would love to put you on TV. Just email her jblaylock@firstcoastnews.com