(1888PressRelease)
April 17, 2008 - Brainware, Inc., a Virginia-based company that provides Global 2000 corporations with programs that extract information locked in computers, has provided a donation of $10,000 to help in the fight against melanoma.
The money will support the Children’s Melanoma Prevention Foundation’s SunAWARE program, which is committed to educating children about the dangers of sun exposure and proper sun protection.
“The success of this program hinges on our ability to raise awareness and funds for program tools,” Children’s Melanoma Prevention Foundation Founder Maryellen Maguire-Eisen said. “To that end, we are pleased that cyclist Ken Shuart has agreed to raise money for the SunAWARE program through his Ride4Melanoma team in the Race Across America, or RAAM.”
Shuart’s team will cycle 3,000 miles non-stop from Oceanside, California to Annapolis, Maryland in June to raise $100,000 for the SunAWARE Program. The funds will underwrite the distribution of SunAWARE books that will be provided to children across the country.
Corporate sponsorship is key to the success of our new SunAWARE book program. Three original publications by Mary Mills Barrow, Maryellen Maguire-Eisen and Scott Naughton entitled, “Lake Vacation” , “Pretty Prom: Your Skin is Pretty Too”, and “What Are These Spots on My Skin?” were created by foundation members to reinforce the SunAWARE messages. “Skin Sense” by Lori Lehrer-Glickman was adapted for this program. That’s why Maguire-Eisen is grateful for Brainware’s generous contribution that will support the distribution of these books to children across America.
“The Ride4Melanoma team is racing to save lives,” she said. “We are turning to our friends in the industry to appeal for their support.”
Melanoma is the most lethal form of skin cancer, and prevention and early detection can save lives. Shuart, who is 48, has had more than 20 moles and cancerous lesions removed from his skin due to excessive sun exposure as a child. His sister developed melanoma, but early detection saved her.
While sun block has become a staple in most homes, tan skin is still a sought-after look for many, particularly the young. Today many teens are lying in tanning beds unaware of the long-term damage of UV rays. Miss Maryland 2006 Brittany Lietz is an example of this. Diagnosed with Melanoma at age 20, Lietz went under the knife 30 times as part of her cancer treatment. She blames her excessive tanning bed use as a teenager preparing for pageants for her cancer. Lietz is now dedicated to educating children and teens about sun exposure.
Experts say childhood sun exposure and sunburns are key risk factors for developing melanoma. The bottom line is education that promotes sun protection and skin cancer prevention, and that’s what SunAWARE is all about.
The Children’s Melanoma Prevention Foundation is a non-profit group that delivers comprehensive sun safety and melanoma awareness programs free of charge to school children across Massachusetts. In addition, they work with nurses, educators, and lay people across the US in the development of local sun protection programs.
Brainware, Inc. helps the world’s leading companies automatically extract, process and retrieve data from any source, thus increasing productivity. Brainware is known for its use of an IDC-distiller, a program that captures stored data and organizes it without the need of templates or indexing.
For more information on Brainware, Inc., visit www.brainware.com. To become a corporate sponsor for the Ride4Melanoma or to learn more, visit www.ride4melanoma.com and www.melanomaprevention.org.
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