Page 16 October 2016 All Faiths Welcome • Pre-K through Eighth Grade • Indexed Tuition Available • All Saints’ Episcopal Day School • 6300 North Central Avenue • Phoenix, Arizona 85012 • 602.274.4866 • www.aseds.org • www.facebook.com/PhoenixASEDS All Saints’ Episcopal Day School admits students of any race, color, or national origin. Educating Children Head to Soul Since 1963, All Saints’ Episcopal Day School has offered a top-tier education while encouraging students to realize their highest potential as lifelong learners, artists, athletes, and leaders of the future. Our teachers teach what they love. We employ 17 specialists in the areas of music, Spanish, physical education, band, art, religion, library, and technology. We also have a full time school counselor, a Learning Resource Coordinator, and Technology and Design Thinking Specialist. In recent history, 99% of our graduates were accepted to their first-choice high school. Come see why 90% of alumni respondents rate their overall satisfaction with All Saints’ as “high” or “very high.” — Independent Alumni Survey November 09 | December 07 | Januar y 11 Join Us For an Open House By Katie Mayer They are three local women with three different cancer stories, but once a year they join together to host one important event. The second annual AZ Cancer Village Fun Run, held October 1 at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix, attracted more than 600 participants this year and raised money for three separate nonprofit organizations – all serving local residents who are battling cancer. Launched one year ago by Holly Rose, founder of Don’t Be a Chump! Check for a Lump!; Jody Farley-Berens, founder of Singleton Moms; and Jennifer Caraway, founder of The Joy Bus, the annual 5K fun run and 1-mile fun run raises money for the respective nonprofit organizations while also offering food truck fare, entertainment and local artisan goods. “It’s a cool thing that we’ve done to rally together and then bring in all of the cancer resources in a local event that serves local people,” Rose said. Prior to the inaugural race in 2015, the three nonprofits – all with different missions – held their own signature fundraisers each year. But after the three founders were introduced, they decided to come together to host one event that benefits all three organizations. In its first year, the AZ Cancer Village Fun Run raised $15,000, and the women are hopeful this year’s proceeds will exceed that amount. “In nonprofits, we are all fighting for the same dollars,” said Farley-Berens, “but at the end of the day, if we’re not seeing the importance of collaboration, then we’re all just spinning our wheels.” While the three organizations serve local community members who battle cancer, each of their missions is unique. Don’t Be a Chump! Check for a Lump! focuses on providing cancer education, encouraging women to conduct breast self-exams and funds wigs for women cancer patients; Singleton Moms provides housecleaning, meals, financial aid and other support to single parents with cancer; and The Joy Bus brings healthy and high quality food and friendship to homebound cancer patients. Each organization makes a powerful impact on the lives of cancer patients in the Valley. And it was the powerful impact of the disease on each founder’s life that prompted her to start her organization. To honor their work, share their missions and inspire hope during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we’re sharing the stories behind the women at the front lines of the cancer epidemic in our local community. They don’t represent the big-name nonprofits, but they represent the core of what Arcadia and our neighborhoods are all about: community. Their work is tough, but so are their spirits. And we are all the better for it. PAYING IT FORWARD: MEET HOLLY ROSE In 2009, Holly Rose saw a Facebook post that made her chuckle. It said, “Feel your boobies,” and reminded women to conduct breast self-exams. The then 39-year-old didn’t think much of it, but figured she would check her breasts anyway and conducted a self-exam that evening. To her surprise, she found a lump. “I made an appointment with my OB/GYN and they referred me to get a mammogram just to be safe,” Rose said. To her horror, she learned she had cancer. “The doctor said, ‘You have a very long, hard road ahead of you. Do you have any questions?’ and I said, ‘No, I don’t have any questions,’” Rose recalled. “They led me out the door then, without any pieces of paper to Meet the women behind three local nonprofits and a fun run PHOTO COURTESY OF AZ CANCER VILLAGE Holly Rose

Page 17 October 2016 Open House Sunday, Oct 30, 2016 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm 8th Grade Day Friday, Oct. 28, 2016 9:30 am - 1:00 pm 4710 N. 5th St. | Phoenix, AZ 85012 | www.xcp.org | 602-277-3772 Photo by chadwickfowler.com Discover your talents. Discover your future. Discover you. Dates to remember: Grade D a y a a 28 2016 m emember : read or support groups and I was just so overwhelmed.” Rose underwent aggressive cancer treatment, including two surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy, which left her without her hair. “Had I waited until I turned 40, [the cancer] could have been stage 4,” she said. The mom of two tears up when she recalls the emotional trauma of losing her hair while fighting for her life. “When you are going through chemo, you are really beaten down physically and then when you lose your hair, it just beats you down mentally,” Rose said. Rose remembered how her youngest daughter was afraid to hug her when she had no hair. To help her through the pain and fear, Rose’s friends and family stepped up and showered her with support. They cleaned her house, provided her with meals, brought her cards, flowers and offered to watch her children. “I just wanted to give back to all of these people,” Rose said. So she decided to pay it forward. In 2009, Rose launched her foundation called Don’t Be a Chump! Check for a Lump! To date it has provided wigs to more than 700 women and given important cancer prevention and treatment information to countless other women in the community. Although the wigs are what many people praise the organization for, Rose said the education has affected the lives of many women as well. “Whenever I give presentations, I will have women come up to me afterwards and say, ‘Oh my gosh, how did I not know this?’” Rose said. She shares surprising facts at her presentations, such as less than 10 percent of breast cancer is hereditary and there are many toxins in our environment that put us at risk for cancer. The organization has also provided free mammograms to women in need and is gearing up to offer educational pamphlets to mammogram centers so women don’t have to walk out empty handed, as Rose did when she was diagnosed. “That fear of cancer coming after you, it doesn’t leave you,” she said. “It paralyzes you.” She added, “But helping other women take care of their own health in the same way that I do reminds me every day why I do this work.” SUPPORTING SINGLES: MEET JODY FARLEY-BERENS When Jody Farley-Berens’ childhood friend Michelle Singleton was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 32, the news was devastating. But what was also troubling was the fact that as a single mother, battling the disease was even more of a challenge, because the community offered virtually no resources to help. So Farley-Berens and her friend Andy Royal McCandless sprang into action. They cleaned Singleton’s home, prepared meals for her, paid a bill or two and did whatever they could to help her and the four children who depended upon her. For a single parent, going to work every day and caring for a family and home is challenging enough, Farley-Berens said. Add a cancer diagnosis to the mix, and everyday tasks are impossible to do alone. Singleton passed away less than a year after her diagnosis, but the organization was born in her name in 2006. Ten years later, Singleton Moms serves 85 families at a time and has supported nearly 350 families, including 1,000 children. Last year, Farley-Berens was selected as Jody Farley-Berens PHOTO COURTESY OF AZ CANCER VILLAGE Continued on page 18