The gift supported the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center and National Breast Cancer Foundation.
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October 2020, EquipmentShare raised $5,300 to support facilities that provide programs and services to detect, prevent and treat breast cancer. The donations supported National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) and Ellis Fischel Cancer Center.
“Breast cancer does not have a type or target; it can happen to any of us,” said Danielle Schlacks, a member of the executive leadership team at EquipmentShare. “Like so many others, our EquipmentShare team members have personally experienced the devastation caused by this disease. Through this gift, we can honor the loved ones we’ve lost, those who have defeated the disease and those who are still battling it. More awareness and funding is needed to support research and programs that can help save lives.”
As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, EquipmentShare employees across the country donated $5 or more to wear pink at work. Together, EquipmentShare employees raised $2,650 through cash donations and a GoFundMe fundraiser. EquipmentShare matched the employee donations, which resulted in a grand total of $5,300 in donations for NBCF and Ellis Fischel Cancer Center.
EquipmentShare’s gift supported NBCF’s programs and services that directly help women navigate their breast cancer diagnosis. NBCF provides early detection programs, support services, education and inspiration to women diagnosed with breast cancer. NBCF also partners with facilities across the country to offer its National Mammography Program, which provides screenings and diagnostic services to low-income, uninsured or underinsured patients.
Ellis Fischel Cancer Center — located in Columbia, Mo., where the company is headquartered — used its share of the gift to support MU Health Care's mobile mammography van, or “mamm van,” which serves 26 Missouri counties and has provided life-saving mammograms on the go to women throughout rural Missouri since 1992. See Ellis Fischel Cancer Center’s response to the news of the donation in this video.
“Preventive services like mammograms are absolutely vital to the survival rate of rural Missourians diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Jeanette Linebaugh, who serves as the Senior Director of Ambulatory Care and Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. “This gift from EquipmentShare will support the maintenance and service costs that help keep our mammography van in operation.”
“As an equipment rental and tech company, we know how important it is to keep our customers’ machines running,” said Schlacks. “But the mamm van provides breast cancer screening services, so it’s especially important that it’s maintained and running at all times. It’s more than just a piece of equipment or a van; it’s a lifesaver.”
EquipmentShare also transformed a small, one-person conference room at headquarters into a “Battle Breast Cancer Booth” where team members shared messages of support and personal stories about their loved ones’ battles with breast cancer. Watch the video compilation of some of the stories here.
“I wear pink for my mother,” said EquipmentShare team member April Custard in the video. “Nine years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and was treated with a lumpectomy and radiation, and she is now cancer free.”
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and early detection is key to surviving the disease. According to the American Cancer Society, when breast cancer is detected early and in the localized stage, the five-year relative survival rate is 99 percent. There is currently no known cure for breast cancer, which makes early detection services all the more important. To learn more about breast cancer prevention and support research for a cure, visit nationalbreastcancer.org.
“I had a friend who had a scare,” said EquipmentShare team member Lindsey Pogue in the video. “We were all doing self-exams and checking (ourselves). We need to have so much more literature to educate people on what to really look for.”
EquipmentShare’s mission to help contractors build more efficiently is matched by its commitment to build and better the community. The company empowers team members to solve problems on the jobsite and in their neighborhoods, which recently earned EquipmentShare a Kindness in Business award from Missouri Business Alert. EquipmentShare was honored as a business exemplifying kindness in the community for a recent effort to feed those most affected by the pandemic. EquipmentShare’s No Child Hungry program provided more than 45,000 meals to families and children in need of food and resources.