Breast Cancer Awareness Month features walks, fundraisers, and free screenings

Maybe it’s a lack of medical insurance. Maybe it’s been a hassle to get an appointment due to the pandemic backlog. Maybe it's just a matter of not getting around to it.

To kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month, held every year in October, the Copiague Memorial Public Library is making a mammogram more convenient by offering a mobile van to provide free screenings Thursday.

"It might be easier for some people to get to the library rather than, maybe, to get to their doctor, especially now with COVID. It might be difficult to get an appointment," said library director Kenneth S. Miller. He added: "It’s a big Winnebago, and you step up and they have the machine inside the van."

The free screening, which can be scheduled at 646-415-7932 is at 50 Deauville Blvd., and is one of more than a dozen events being held across Long Island in October to bring attention to a cancer that, according to the American Cancer Society, 1 in 8 women will develop in her lifetime.

Throughout the month, various groups, libraries and others are holding screenings, posting displays, and holding fundraisers.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer — the annual fundraiser which had been scaled back last year to a drive-thru session, due to the pandemic — is returning to a more traditional event: Oct. 17 at 7 a.m. at Jones Beach State Park, Field 5.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month traces its roots to a weeklong event in October 1985 by the American Cancer Society and a pharmaceutical company that would later become part of AstraZeneca.

According to the American Cancer Society, women ages 45 to 54 should get annual mammograms, which is an X-ray of the breast; those 55 and older should switch to once every two years or can continue annual screening.

At the West Babylon Public Library, patrons will see a display of information pamphlets along with books gathered from the stacks, according to Jessica Giannetti-Rice, the library’s adult programming coordinator.

"Knowledge is the key … to detection" reads one flyer on a table with books by the American Cancer Society, a medical doctor and others.

"We’re doing the display to bring awareness to breast cancer and to educate our patrons and anybody who comes into our library, basically, what breast cancer is," including treatments and other protocols, she said.

Patrons can — and have in the past — borrowed books from the display.

"Breast cancer is something that affects everybody — you know somebody that’s had it, or you’ve had it yourself," she said.

The library is also hosting a free session on the subject Oct. 14 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. It’s virtual and is called "The ‘C’ Word and What You Need to Know About Breast Cancer."

"We know it is hard to think about cancer. No one wants to hear the ‘c’ word but being informed and empowered are significant tools to staying healthy," according to an advisory.

The session is a workshop with Angelica Medina, outreach supervisor for the Adelphi Breast Cancer Program: subjects include reducing risk, getting screened, myths and facts and resources.

The Copiague Library is also hosting an information session: Oct. 25 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

And then there’s a Shelter Island Fall Virtual 5K/Walk from Oct. 16 through Oct. 24, from midnight to 11:59 p.m. each day.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.