Citizen Brand

Lee National Denim Day - 2008

Tim Daly and Chandra Wilson will be our ambassadors for the 2008 edition of Lee National Denim Day.  The TV docs are teaming up to tell America to wear their jeans on October 3 and give five bucks to fund critical research in the fight against breast cancer.

This is the 13th year for Denim Day.  Lee Jeans and Barkley created the program in 1996 and today it is a model for grassroots cause branding programs.  Our partner, the Entertainment Industry Foundation and its Women's Cancer Initiatives use the millions of dollars raised to fund collaborative research teams at a dozen leading cancer research institutions nationwide.

As our client at Lee, Liz Cahill said, "We've learned from our incredible team of scientists in Lee Labs that just like jeans, one cancer treatment does not fit all.  Through our Lee Labs for translational research, the early detection blood test, and our work with the National Breast Cancer Coalition, we're making a significant impact in finding and treating this disease in its many different sub-types and arming people with the information they need if they're faced with a diagnosis."

Companies, organizations or individuals wanting to form their own teams can begin signing up June 5th at denimday.com.  And then be ready to wear your jeans and make a difference.

It's no longer someone else

One of the main purposes of this blog is to talk about causes.  And for more than a decade now I and my many colleagues at Barkley have been involved in helping to raise awareness and money for many causes, but most especially cancer.  It was always something that happened to other people, although some people very close to me over the years have been diagnosed.  My friend, Jenné, for example who has written about her experience with great eloquence and candor.

This week, it hit home.  My wife, Char, found out a couple of weeks ago that she had a mass in her colon that needed to be removed.  Over the past two weeks, all of us supporting Char have had a crash course in what it is like to find out about having cancer.  Her surgery was Monday and they successfully removed the mass and some lymph nodes.  On Friday, we heard the news.  The mass was indeed cancer.  And two of the thirteen lymph nodes had cancer as well.  Char is in what is now referred to as Stage 3A.  It is as good a prognosis as we could have heard short of being told that she did not have cancer.  What she is diagnosed with is now 84% curable.  That's huge and we are moving ahead with positive thoughts.

The same day we found this out, we also found out that my sister has a mass in her colon and will require surgery.  She is on the same path that Char has been on for the past two weeks so at least we know where we might be headed.

I don't know today how much I will write about this.  But it is likely I will from time to time.  It is now a part of the everyday landscape with two of the most important women in my life fighting through the same situation.

The first lesson learned is this.  Both Char and my sister, Debbie, found out about their tumors because they had a colonoscopy.  If you are closing in on 50 years of age, have one today.  If you are over 50 and have never had one, get a colonoscopy right away.  Without it, both my wife and my sister would be walking around today not knowing they had a problem.

We have to manage our own health.  No one will do it for us.