Mission:

The Keep A Breast Foundation is a unique non-profit organization creating plaster forms of the female torso, customized by fine artists and auctioned to raise funding for breast cancer.  Our mission is to help eradicate breast cancer by exposing young people to methods of prevention, early detection and support. Through art events, educational programs and fundraising efforts we seek to increase breast cancer awareness among young people so they are better equipped to make choices and develop habits that will benefit their long-term health and well-being.

History:

A little history about us-our foundation came into existence in 2000.  Founded by Shaney Jo Darden and Mon Mukherjea, we have produced events all over the world, raising thousands of dollars on behalf of local, national, and international organizations such as The Young Survival Coalition, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and The Breast Cancer Fund.  Originally created to fuse sculpture, philanthropy, and symbolic artistry, the Keep A Breast Foundation has grown into a predominately youth based community outreach to raise conscience and awareness amongst the growing youth of today.

We are proud to say our honors and awards include the Yoplait award to our volunteer Executive Director, Shaney Jo Darden, Glue Network beneficiary, SIMA grant, The Humanitarian Fund, The Quicksilver Foundation, and our most recent The “My Space Impact Award” for health.  Emergen-C has also picked us to be the beneficiary of their new “Pink Lemonade flavor-50% of the profits will go to our foundation. We believe with continuing effort, we can reach more communities all over the globe, and better equip them with choices and habits that will benefit their long-term health and well-being.

Goals:

Of course we have many goals-here are a few on the top of our list:

-To increase the knowledge and awareness of breast cancer among 13-25 year olds, and subsequently decrease the cases of breast cancer amongst this age group with preventive methods.

-To empower the youth to take an active role in their well-being by learning about breast self-exams, prevention methods, and breast cancer support systems such as “This Is My Story” -a story-telling with others who have also experienced breast cancer.  This includes the participation of artists, musicians, and celebrities that young people can look up to and increase their comfortableness with the issues at hand.

-To allow self-expression, and explore and discuss the sensitive topic of breast cancer through our art based, high-school onsite education program.

Beneficiaries:   Keep A Breast has raised over $100,000 on behalf of Young Survival Coalition, Susan G. Koman Foundation, The Breast Cancer Fund, Asha-Killgallen McGee Fund, Kapiolanni Breast Center and Europadonna.

Artists Some of the cutting-edge urban artists that have contributed their talents to Keep A Breast include Shepard Fairey, Freddi C., Caia Koopman, Dave Kinsey, Michael Leon, Haze, Andy Howell, Jeff Soto, Sam Flores, Big Foot, Andrew Pommier, Jest, and Cycle.

We also just started a High-School Youth Outreach Program, which we are very excited about.

Our high school youth outreach program is an interactive program we take to high-schools all over California, harnessing the power of artistic imagery to communicate complex feeling and thoughts about health, the female form, and breast cancer.  Keep-A-Breast works with high-school students to produce their very own Keep-A-Breast exhibition, using the torsos the students created and painted as an outlet for self-expression and inspiration.  Tools such a shower cards, videos featuring bands and athletes, informational pamphlets about KAB and breast cancer, and website/volunteer opportunities are also available.

Check out KAB on the web at:

keep-a-breast.org myspace.com/keepabreast Shop: loserkids.com