Cancer diagnosis spurs group to action

DOWNEY - Cancer Libra, a group of local residents that raises funds for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, will hold a fundraiser Oct. 20 at Shakey's Pizza from 5-8 p.m.Shakey's will donate 25 percent of all food sales to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. "If all women took advantage of early detection methods - self and clinical exams, such as mammograms - breast cancer death rates would drop much further, up to 30 percent," said Ederlen Casillas, president of Cancer Libra. In 2009, Casillas, a lifetime Downey resident, felt a small lump in her breast at age 29. After a mammogram, she was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. Casillas has undergone two years of treatment and has been cancer-free since September of this year. More than 100 of Casillas' friends and family started Cancer Libre after her diagnoses. To date, the group has raised $12,000 for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure held every March at Dodger Stadium. To learn more about Cancer Libre, go to cancer-libre.org.

********** Published: October 13, 2011 - Volume 10 - Issue 26