Jeff Saturday Fans Pink After Super Bowl

While many Colts fan were blue over the turnout of the Super Bowl, those of us involved with the Race for the Cure were still pink (ok, and blue too). We cheered loudly throughout the season and of course, on Feb. 7, for our favorite player, Jeff Saturday – a longtime supporter and friend of Komen Indianapolis. No matter what the scoreboard said at the end of the Super Bowl, Jeff Saturday is a true champion in the hearts and minds of everyone involved with Komen. He’s a winner on and off the field, that’s for sure.

Jeff and his wife, Karen, have been involved with Komen Indianapolis Race for the Cure since 2004 and have served as Honorary Race Chairs since 2007. With relatives and close friends touched by breast cancer, both Jeff and Karen are “passionately pink” and are truly active and committed to the cause.

In addition to serving as Race Honorary Chairs – they are on-site early Race morning sporting their pink pride (Jeff trades in his Colts jersey for a “Real Men Wear Pink” shirt); they have also served as judges for Paint the Town Pink and have emceed the Pink Parade (Karen has walked with the group in the past). The Saturdays also participate in notable Komen Indianapolis events such as the Circle of Hope recognition reception and the Pink Ribbon Celebration survivor luncheon.

Jeff, (#63), has been with the NFL for the past 11 years and is a mainstay on the Colts offensive line as Center. His stats are impressive to football fans (voted onto five Pro Bowl teams, named twice to the Associated Press NFL All-Pro First Team and, of course, a member of the Super Bowl XLI Championship Team. I even read that he even has an action figure). Off the field, he’s even more impressive to community organizations. In addition to his commitment to Komen, he supports Riley Hospital for Children, is an active spokesman for the People’s Burn Foundation and serves on the boards for Kids’ Voice of Indiana and Sharon Bassett Foundation. Jeff was recently acknowledged by the NFL at the 23rd Annual Super Bowl Breakfast as a nominee for the 2010 Bart Starr Award (along with Kurt Warner and Drew Brees) – recognized for outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field in and in the local community. A well-deserved recognition for sure!

So, while he didn’t win another Super Bowl ring this year; he won the hearts and praises of several thousand Race participants who appreciate his commitment to our Super event … Race for the Cure. I look forward to standing next to Jeff and Karen on April 17 and cheering for all of the runners and walkers who are helping us get one step closer to finding a cure.

Volunteers Can Sign-up Online Now

posted by Meghan Lyons, Volunteer Registration Manager

If you’ve volunteered in the past for Komen Indianapolis Race for the Cure or Paint the Town Pink, odds are I’ve had the pleasure of working with you at some point. For the past four years I’ve served on the Race Executive Planning Committee and one of the many hats I wear is managing volunteer registration (I also manage Paint the Town Pink and am the co-chair for Special Programs).

I have to admit, Race for the Cure is definitely one of my favorite events. I look forward to this event every year – and right now I’m looking forward to signing volunteers up for the Race.

Managing volunteer registration is no small task, but I love it. As you can imagine, volunteers are critical to the success of the Race. Last year alone, we had a total of 614 volunteer shifts. We certainly couldn’t put on this massive event if we didn’t have the support of our volunteers. We truly appreciate all of our volunteers and all of their hard work!

Volunteers can now sign-up online. It’s easy, really. Just visit our volunteer Race page, download the volunteer job descriptions to see what interests you and then visit the volunteer sign-up site to select your job and see the available shifts.

While we have a lot of volunteer positions open right now, we have a lot of committed volunteers who come back year after year to volunteer for their favorite jobs. I recommend signing up early so you get the volunteer position you want.

New for 2010 - all online race participants will get their t-shirt packet mailed to them (a part of our “Pink Goes Green” initiative). Thanks to this amazing feature, we will only be at the IUPUI Surplus Warehouse on Thursday and Friday, which means we’ll need fewer volunteers Race Week – another reason to sign-up early.

On behalf of everyone on the Race Executive Committee, thank you for your interest, time and commitment to the Race. As a volunteer, you are helping us get one step closer to the Cure!

Media Sponsors Help Tell Our Story

I’ve always been a fan of WTHR – I mean Ellen, Oprah and Law & Order are three of my favorite shows. Today, however, I was reminded that it’s not about the programs or the news; it’s about their community support and their commitment to partner with campaigns and events such as Race for the Cure.

To say we are lucky to have WTHR as a media partner is an understatement. A few of us met today with Angela Cain, Jennifer Donovan and Young-Hee Yedinak -- the terrific trio in the community relations department that helps drive the station’s support of the Komen Indianapolis Race for the Cure. These three women, along with several anchors for the station, help plan, organize, create, write, produce, emcee and are on-site from beginning to end Race day.

Their passion helps tell the stories we need to empower and motivate runners, walkers, volunteers and supporters each year. They use their creativity to find ways to increase the station’s support and visibility before, during and even after the Race. More importantly – and what was so clear today, was the friendship, support and camaraderie they have established with Komen Indianapolis by supporting the event for so many years.

WTHR has already started promoting the Race. The event is listed on their community calendar, we were a part of a larger Community Focus segment and plans are in the works for creating new PSAs (among other things). I also learned today that they may have back massagers in their tent again this year. Their full sponsorship is an incredible commitment and one that Race organizers recognize and appreciate year after year.

WTHR is one of several media partners Komen Indianapolis is fortunate enough to have. A big thanks also to Comcast, Entercom , Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis Woman. Each has made an important commitment and an invaluable contribution to the success of the Race for the Cure. Each media outlet beautifully helps us tell our story of hope.

So why am I highlighting the media sponsorships and not all of the other wonderful Race sponsors? Well for one, the meeting with WTHR just happened and is fresh in my mind. There will be another blog at some point highlighting our other incredible sponsors. I also chose to highlight the media sponsors today because each media outlet wants stories – stories about survivors, co-survivors, teams, volunteers, fundraisers and participants. If you have a story to tell; tell us so we can tell them.

On behalf of everyone associated with the Race, a big thanks to all of the incredible sponsors who help make this event possible. See you April 17, 2010!