ABCD: AFTER BREAST CANCER DIAGNOSIS TO CELEBRATE 25 YEARS OF PROVIDING CUSTOMIZED EMOTIONAL SUPPORT TO ANYONE IMPACTED BY BREAST CANCER IN WISCONSIN AND AROUND THE WORLD
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Megan Brown at megan@abcdmentor.org or (414) 690-1893
ABCD will host a 25th Anniversary Gala on Saturday, June 15 at 6 pm CT at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee, WI (May 6, 2024) – ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, founded by the late Emmy award-winning journalist Melodie Wilson Oldenburg, is thrilled to announce it is commemorating 25 years of providing emotional support services to anyone impacted by breast cancer with an Anniversary Gala on Saturday, June 15 at 6 pm CT at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee. Co-chaired by Madeleine and David Lubar, as well as other notable leaders in Milwaukee, this special evening will showcase ABCD’s impact while raising funds to ensure its free services are always available.
“People’s lives are turned upside down and inside out after hearing the words ‘you have breast cancer’, and they often need—but can’t find—support navigating life post-diagnosis,” says Ellen Friebert Schupper, ABCD Executive Director. “For 25 years, ABCD has filled this gap, by providing customized hope, compassion, and guidance to anyone impacted by this disease, at any stage, here in our hometown community of Milwaukee and beyond.”
Working as a complement to medical care, ABCD’s signature service is creating a unique match between someone who needs support and a volunteer ABCD Mentor who not only shares a similar diagnosis and treatment plan, but also has similar ages, common interests, personal characteristics, career paths, and family dynamics. This customized matching is possible because Mentors represent all stages, ages, races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. All services are free and virtual, and are available at any stage of diagnosis, including metastatic, with ABCD also supporting male breast cancer patients, younger patients, care partners, previvors, and underserved communities.
Starting with just 23 Mentors in 1999 with a focus primarily on Southeast Wisconsin, ABCD has trained 850 people and strategically expanded to reach and serve over 109,000 people from Wisconsin to New York, California to Florida, and Australia to Sweden.
Decades of research by leading cancer institutions indicate that people who have or have had cancer who take advantage of nonclinical support like ABCD’s customized, one-to-one services are more likely to finish treatment, have improved survival rates, and showed a reduced risk of recurrence while experiencing less distress, healthier social relationships, and improved quality of life. Moreover, for ABCD Mentors, volunteering can have positive social and emotional health benefits, such as greater life satisfaction, longer life, and lower rates of depression.
About the Gala
Emceed by WISN 12 News Anchor Joyce Garbaciak, ABCD’s 25th Anniversary Gala will include a cocktail hour, dinner with a special program, a live auction and paddle raise, and dancing. It will also honor the remarkable legacy of Melodie Wilson Oldenburg and the Oldenburg Family. “I am humbled that our family will be recognized. ABCD was Melodie’s vision, and while it has been our family’s honor to keep it going, none of this would be possible if not for her,” says Wayne C. Oldenburg, ABCD immediate past Board President who was married to Melodie for more than 25 years until her passing from metastatic breast cancer in 2009.
As a non-profit organization, ABCD’s growth continues to be sustained and accelerated by the dedication, generosity, and commitment of many of Milwaukee’s community and corporate leaders. In addition to the Lubars, the Gala’s Honorary Committee and event sponsors include Mary Vandenberg and Keith Mardak, the Oldenburg Family, the Patti & Jack McKeithan Northwoods Fund, Sarah and Jeff Joerres, Madeleine and David Lubar, BizTimes, Kesslers Diamonds, Plum Media, Traction Factory, and other generous corporate and individual donors.
“As we move into our next 25 years, demand continues to rise as more people than ever are diagnosed or are living with breast cancer. ABCD will always be here, ready and able to support people when they need it most,” says ABCD Board President Billie Jean Smith.
Visit ABCDBreastCancerSupport.org/abcds-25th-anniversary-gala/ for more details and to purchase tickets.
ABCD’s Beginning and Founding Vision
It was 1992 when Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist Melodie Wilson Oldenburg announced on live television she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. At a time when breast cancer was rarely discussed openly, Melodie chose to use her public position to speak out about her personal experience with the disease.
She started to receive letters and calls from people she had never met. They too had been diagnosed with breast cancer and wanted to provide hope and guidance by sharing their personal experience with her. Melodie quickly realized the benefits of emotional support but recognized a gap in care—too many people lacked resources and access to quality, personalized support.
Leaving her broadcast career in 1998, she brought together breast cancer patients, survivors, physicians, clinicians, and caregivers to launch ABCD on June 15, 1999, with the founding vision: “No one should go through breast cancer alone.”
About ABCD
ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis is an international breast cancer organization headquartered in Milwaukee, WI that provides FREE, one-to-one emotional support to anyone impacted by a breast cancer diagnosis—from patients, family, and friends, to survivors, previvors, and caregivers. With 225+ volunteer Mentors around the country and a virtual platform that makes it easy to request support from anywhere in the United States and beyond, ABCD can make truly personalized connections that make a tremendous difference.
To request a Mentor, visit ABCDBreastCancerSupport.org/get-support, email info@abcdmentor.org, or call 1-800-977-4121.
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