Breast cancer survivors and patients helped by support groups and Clemson undergrads  

The month of October is dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness and two organizations with Clemson ties provide support to breast cancer patients and survivors.

Clemson Area Bosom Buddies

Clemson Area Bosom Buddies, an all-volunteer nonprofit, is 80 members strong and hosts evening meetings – currently using Zoom. The group’s mission is to provide love, support, and encouragement to breast cancer survivors in the Clemson area.

Most of the organization’s leadership once worked for Clemson University including Wendy Howard, the current president, who retired as an accountant for the Holcombe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Recently Clemson Area Bosom Buddies leveraged a grant it received from Dabo’s All-In Team Foundation to assemble and distribute chemotherapy support bags for breast cancer patients at the Breast Care Center on the Prisma Health Oconee Campus in Seneca, S.C.

Faculty and staff members are encouraged to learn more by contacting clemsonareabosombuddies@gmail.com.

The group may also be followed on Facebook – www.facebook.com/ClemsonAreaBosomBuddies/

Breast Friends in Seneca

Breast Friends in Seneca is 25 members strong and hosts regularly scheduled meetings 6 times annually. The group’s mission is to provide fellowship, encouragement and support to breast cancer survivors and current patients. Even during COVID-19, the group meets in person, practicing physical distancing and all other safety procedures.

Breast Friends in Seneca meets at the Oconee Memorial Hospital from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of every other month. The group’s next meeting is December 1, 2020.

This group is always looking for new members to help support and relies on word-of-mouth and flyers up in the doctor’s offices and in the Breast Care Center to ensure all those in need of support are aware this group is available.

Breast Friends in Seneca’s activities are funded Oconee Memorial Foundation.

For details, email June Lecroy at June.Lecroy@prismahealth.org.

Clemson Students Gain Work Experience Helping Support Group

Relying on an all-volunteer staff to provide key support to breast cancer patients and survivors is not an easy undertaking for Clemson Area Bosom Buddies. Enter Clemson undergraduate students.

“While we continue to support faculty and staff at Clemson University and the area community, Clemson’s students really make it a win-win,” said Howard who relies on Clemson’s students working real-life projects associated with their course work to provide marketing and grant-writing expertise to the nonprofit.

Wendy Howard’s spouse, Tharon Howard, is a professor of English in Clemson’s English Department. Undergraduate students in his English class, Creative 21st Century Publishing, work this project to support a real-world nonprofit in order to develop a calculated user-experience for the people who need the information and products these students are creating. Recognizing that breast cancer patients must frequent a significant number of doctor offices and medical facilities, the class is producing marketing materials with targeted messaging that can be strategically placed in area medical facilities.

According to Tharon Howard, his undergraduate students continue to “go way beyond what textbooks say about strategic communication and are gaining the kind of real ‘dirt under the fingernails’ work experience making them really stand out on the job market.”