photo WarriorQueenHeader_zpsa2d93a61.png

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Not Just October Breast Cancer Giveaway + Link Up

This blog post is part of the Fight Like a Girl Blog Hop! Please find the rest of the blogs here. 

As many of you know, my mom was diagnosed with Stage II Breast Cancer this past summer. Once she was diagnosed, she quickly began going through all of the procedures - surgery and then chemo. This next week marks her halfway point!!


Loading
My warrior queen momma rockin her head scarf! Can't you just see her beautiful soul radiating from that face? #warriorqueen #mommylove #ilovemymom #breastcancer #cancersucks #fightlikeagirl #fightlikeawarriorqueen #strongwoman

I am so incredibly proud of my momma for her strength through all of this. She has always been such an inspiration for me. I wanted today's post to be about my journey with Breast Cancer, but I feel that it is not my time to share that story. Today, I would like to speak on Breast Cancer and other's journeys. I want to give the spotlight to others to share their experiences and raise awareness.



Most importantly, I want to introduce you to a new non-profit, Not Just October, and its founder Lavar. I found Lavar on Instagram, when he liked one of my pictures of my mom. I instantly knew that I wanted to partner with him and help him along his journey! I'll let Lavar tell you a little more about Not Just October.




Could you give us some background information on Not Just October?

- Not Just October was an idea I had in August of 2014, I always had a passion for Breast Cancer Awareness and I felt like it was time to jump into the fight! We will be spreading awareness nationwide though events and merchandise, also we will be attempting to help families financially who run into issues due to Breast Cancer. Our fundraising efforts will also be used to fund research working towards a cure for Breast Cancer.

What motivated you to start the non profit?

- I know that there are already organizations devoted to Breast Cancer, but I feel that my creative outside of the box way of thinking would really benefit the fight.

How long were you active in the breast cancer awareness movement before you began your non profit?

- My mother passed away from Breast Cancer in 2009, I have been doing walks and attending other events ever since.

What are the goals of your non profit?

- My ultimate goal is to have an important role in finding a cure for Breast Cancer.  As for my organization my goal is to be a globally known organization which is doing good throughout several communities and spreading awareness all year, Not Just October.  I am young and in touch with pop culture so I aim to spread awareness in different demographics then other organizations.

How has breast cancer affected your life?

-I witnessed my Mother fight Breast Cancer and win! After her mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation her Cancer went into remission. Unfortunately a year later my mothers Cancer came back more aggressively and ultimately spread to her brain which lead to her passing away. I was not as informed on the disease as I should have been, which has led me to spread awareness and educate people all over the world so that people don't have to go through what I went through. 



What inspired your ideas for the chance bands?

- When a person passes away, they are mourned by friends and family for a short amount of time and unfortunately the memories sometimes fade away, my bands give us the opportunity to remember the strength of the person who battled Cancer and spread it across the world. Survivors and family members of women who passed away donate fabric which we sew to the band and Mail around the world. Their strength lives on! Each band comes with a small card that has some facts about the person who's fabric was donated. I am very excited about these bands! 
Speaking of these bands, we are giving away one of these bands to raise awareness and help Not Just October grow their social media presence! Bonus - the winner will receive a $50 gift card to Target and a $10 gift card to Starbucks! Enter below, and feel free to link up your Breast Cancer Awareness posts during the rest of the month! Winner will be picked on November 1st!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Be A Warrior Queen


 photo name.jpg

Check out one of our featured Warrior Queens:

87 comments:

  1. Your mom sounds like such an inspiration! Wishing her the very best! Thank you for letting me be a part of this. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great idea! Love this :) I have a Breast Cancer awareness post coming up, but it's already scheduled for Monday.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What an amazing organization and such a great idea with the Chance Bands! I would buy one for my friend Cassie and her mom. Her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago and she is currently in remission. It has been a tough journey for them both.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful post, Raewyn. Thank you so much for sharing your story and spreading awareness of this amazing new organization. Can't wait to get my post up!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Such a beautiful post! I'm doing a breast cancer walk later this month to help raise funds <3

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a great idea! Such an inspiration. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a strong woman, and a great giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is such a great idea! Your mom is a beautiful fighter! Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your mom is still radiant :)
    Tweeting this!

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a great organization and I loved reading the story behind it! I also think the bands are such a different and great idea! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Apieceofrainbow AnandaOctober 9, 2014 at 9:44 PM

    beautiful post. wish your mom all the best!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Beautiful. My mom is a 2x breast cancer survivor. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!

    Prayers for your mom and for your family. ♡

    ReplyDelete
  13. Your mother looks so beautiful. I wish her all the best and she'll be in my prayers <3

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sending many prayers and good health to your beautiful mother! I totally agree that October should NOT be the ONLY month for breast cancer awareness!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love this post and organization. I am actually doing a giveaway this week to help raise awareness for breast cancer as well. I linked up above and would love to have you enter as well. Thanks for such a great post and giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  16. You are awesome, and I will get mine posted soon! :D

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a great post AND organization! I think this is all such a great idea, especially your linkup for sharing stories. I wish your mom all the best!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Love this post, definitely hits home since my Dad is currently battling ( a different type of cancer). Hugs to you.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love this!! You are amazing and because of you I am going to do a breast cancer awareness month post!

    ReplyDelete
  20. This is an awesome cause! And your mom is amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a truly awesome charity, I always remark to myself about the focus on breast cancer only one time a year and wonder why there aren't efforts all year round. I love the idea of the bracelet as well. I wish the best for your Mom and her fight!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Love the awareness you are helping bring to this - your momma is wonderful and so strong! xo

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thank you for bringing awareness to breast cancer!! Prayers for you and your mom.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Thank you for this post. This is a great cause, and something we should all be more aware of. Your mom really is a true warrior queen!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thanks for sharing this and what a great idea to link up other stories. My grandmother passed from breast cancer, so I am always about giving back to research, awareness, and anything to help others. Keeping your mother and your family in my prayers!

    ReplyDelete
  26. my mother died from breast cancer. I think it hit my sister the hardest so I would give one to her

    ReplyDelete
  27. Link it up then! This is open until Halloween :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Aww, congrats on the remission!!! As soon as they are available for purchase, check them out - and get in contact with Lavar so your friend Cassie's mom could be a part of the chance bands!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Thank you so much! I can't wait to read yours!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thank you! I'd love to hear how it goes :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. You're welcome! Thanks for stopping by :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thank you so much!! She is such an inspiration for me!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thank you! I agree!! I couldn't wait to help Lavar out!

    ReplyDelete
  34. yay!! Thank you so much for sharing it :)

    ReplyDelete
  35. Thank you so much! She loves all of the support from the blogging community!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Aww, thank you so much Tawni!! That is so awesome that your mom survived both times!!! She is so strong!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Thank you so much!! Yes, we should be supporting it all the time :)

    ReplyDelete
  38. Thank you so much!! I went and entered yours - love what you are doing!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Thank you so much Jessica!!! I definitely hope people feel inspired by this

    ReplyDelete
  40. aww thank you so much Nancy! My thoughts are with your father and family!! I know how hard it is to deal with it!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Yay!! thank you so much for joining me in this Lindsay!!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Thank you so much Andi! I think those affected are making the effort all year long, but I think that we should always be working toward making the effort for all types of charities year round.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Thank you so much!! She definitely is :)

    ReplyDelete
  44. Thank you so much! I am sorry about your grandmother :( Reach out with Lavar - I know he would love to work with you!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Aww, I am so sorry for your loss! Reach out to Lavar, I know he would love to work with you and your sister.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Raewyn! Just saw "rae to the wyn" commented on LollyJane Insta and thought maybe it was you! And it was. Crazy! Love that you're blogging! I do it occassionally as well. I'm going to follow you. Please tell your mom I'm sorry and praying for her. John was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer last January and just finished treatment in August. It's a rough road for sure so I'm sorry she's going through it. I'm sure you bring her "Raes of sunshine" like you always do. Xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  47. That's so crazy! I thought to myself, "Hey look it's C$!" I went and looked at your blog - love your DIY stuff!!! And your three kids are precious! I will let my mom know! Today is her halfway point in chemo, so we are celebrating with dinner :) I'm so sorry about Papa John :( I'm so happy you guys have been able to get through it!! <3

    ReplyDelete
  48. Thanks for hosting this giveaway and supporting a great cause! I would give this bracelet to my aunt.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Your mom looks so pretty in her scarf, praying for her!

    ReplyDelete
  50. I would buy this for someone I know that is going through this struggle with cancer.

    ReplyDelete
  51. I would buy it for my grandma who suffered from breast cancer.

    ReplyDelete
  52. I would get one for my daughter

    ReplyDelete
  53. Best wishes to your mom on having a long, full life ahead of her! And thank you for sharing Laver's story and his band initiative. Great idea for a worthy cause, and I hope it gets lots of support!

    xo,
    lauriel
    EyeForElegance.com

    ReplyDelete
  54. The entries to follow on Pinterest are both wrong.....both give error messages. The reason is that you put www.rafflecopter in the URL and that is not needed..

    ReplyDelete
  55. The first GFC follow also gives an error message as the URL again has www.rafflecopter in it which is not corrrect.

    ReplyDelete
  56. I'd buy the band for myself ;)

    ReplyDelete
  57. Im a survivor! 6+yrs. I was just 34 when I was diagnosed.. Stage 3
    Message to all - It can happen to anyone - Young and old
    Great Post


    Love anything Pink

    ReplyDelete
  58. Celise Toi HartgroveOctober 18, 2014 at 12:46 PM

    For my aunt :)

    ReplyDelete
  59. I would buy a Chance Band for my Nanny.

    ReplyDelete
  60. I would buy it for myself, to wear in honor of my brother, who survived breast cancer and has been in remission for 3 years.

    ReplyDelete
  61. myself and my mom who is going through breast cancer right now. P.S. remove the rafflecopter part of your links so they will go through.

    ReplyDelete
  62. I would buy one for a close family friend.

    ReplyDelete
  63. thank you so much!!! You are so sweet!

    ReplyDelete
  64. hmm, that is so weird. I didn't put Rafflecopter in the URL but I've experienced that when I followed on OTHER giveaways, so maybe it is a glitch in their system. I hope I have fixed it!

    ReplyDelete
  65. Ditto to the Pinterest! Thanks for letting me know :)

    ReplyDelete
  66. thank you so much for sharing with us!! I am so happy that you are a survivor :) It definitely can happen to anyone - we don't have breast cancer in our family!

    ReplyDelete
  67. This is wonderful!! I am so happy that your brother is a survivor and in remission!!

    ReplyDelete
  68. I hope your mom is doing okay!! Please feel free to reach out to me at any time, since we are going through this together!!

    I know that there may be some trouble with some of the links in the rafflecopter. For some reason, Rafflecopter is showing those, though they don't show up in my end of the giveaway. Unfortunately, it isn't something I can fix.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...