That’s right.  There’s something going on in the United States other than the Presidential election or the Financial Crisis.  Every day, there are women waking up to find out that they have been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  Every day, there are women waking up to put in another day of fighting against the disease that is trying to defeat them.  Every day, there are women not waking up – because they didn’t win the fight in time.

But we can do something every day too – we can get one step closer to finding cures for the different kinds of Breast Cancer that threaten our sisters, daughters, mothers, friends, wives and selves.

It doesn’t take a lot.  Just a few moments of your time donated to one of the many, many organizations banding together to fight this horrible cancer.  Just the change in your pocket, the price of a latte unbought, the price of a couple of packages of frozen peas.  Take a second and find your “inner peas” again.  When you do? Click on the link on the right and do your small bit today to help out.  After all – today IS every day.

Thanks!!

Last week we learned of a cancer patient who lost his home in a fire. The family stored what few possessions they had managed to salvage in the car and headed to Houston for a scheduled treatment at MD Anderson. While staying at a hotel, they endured yet another loss: someone broke into their car and stole the rest of their belongings.

Dr. Michelle Calabretta of MD Anderson started a fund to help the family purchase some basic necessities. “He is a lovely man whom we all adore,” she said, “and my coworkers are trying to raise some money to help him rebuild. You can imagine how hard it is to deal with cancer when you have all of your comforts, but now this man truly needs our help. If you are moved to help this man and his family, please consider donating whatever you can manage. We will pool all the funds and get a Visa gift card that they can spend on whatever they need.”

PLEASE NOTE: Today is the last day you can contribute through this ChipIn widget. I encourage all of the people who have helped the Frozen Pea Fund to give what you’re able today–even $5 (the cost of two bags of frozen peas) can make a powerful statement to this family, and the entire cancer community, that we care and want to help.

UPDATE: The original ChipIn widget has been closed in order to purchase a Visa gift card for the patient today. A new ChipIn widget will be open until May 25 for additional donations. It’s not too late — please chip in a few dollars to help this family in need.

At BloggerSocial08 Scott Monty had the idea of auctioning off the absent Joe Jaffe’s name tag to benefit the Frozen Pea Fund. After a spirited bidding war, Geoff Livingston (The Buzz Bin) wound up with the coveted badge, and we received a very generous contribution of $500.

To keep the fun — and the good work — going, Geoff decided to pass the distinct honor of being Joe Jaffe for a day to anyone willing to contribute $25 to FPF. The effort has gone international, with its own Flickr group: I am Joseph Jaffe.

Recent Jaffe poseurs (and fund contributors — thank you!) include Sean Howard (who kept his clothes on for a change), Cam Beck, Paul McEnany, and Katie Chatfield.

Joe has been a great sport and joined in the traveling joke about his name badge (see photo above with instigator Geoff). Thank you all for your kindness and your spirit of keeping the fun in fundraising.

Cancer is never part of the plan. It strikes unexpectedly, and it does not just strike an individual. Cancer affects an entire family — even an entire community, to varying degrees.

This past week many in our online community were saddened to hear that Tricia, the sister of Todd Andrlik (@ToddAnd on Twitter), was scheduled for a bilateral mastectomy on Saturday. Her story bears a striking resemblance to Susan Reynolds’s case: discovery of a suspected cyst, immediate diagnosis of invasive lobular carcinoma, and surgery just nine days later.

Tricia’s surgery went well, and the news is hopeful. Pathology reports will give clearer answers, but the surgeon appeared confident that the cancer had not spread to other parts of her body. However, she faces months of treatment — months when she will be unable to go back to work and her family will be faced with some staggering expenses. Even with insurance, out-of-pocket expenses for a cancer patient can be quite high.

To help his sister, Todd created a beautiful website — and he created a way for you to help Tricia and the Frozen Pea Fund at the same time. It’s also a way to promote your business or to pay tribute to a friend or loved one who has fought cancer.

Go to the Pixel Page on the 4tricia.com blog. Buy a block of pixels and upload your image or logo. You can even add a tagline and a link to your website. A 10 x 10 pixel square is $1. The most common selection is a 50 x 50 pixel square, about the size of an online avatar, and it’s yours for $25.

Tricia and her family have graciously offered to donate 25 percent of the proceeds to the Frozen Pea Fund. In fact, we have already received our first donation from them!

We want to thank Tricia and her family, and especially Todd, for including the Frozen Pea Fund. And we extend our thoughts and prayers for a quick recovery for Tricia.

How about you? Would you please support Tricia by leaving a comment for her on 4tricia.com and by purchasing a pixel? It’s a great cause, and an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of a family in our extended community.

Please spread the word about the pixel project on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. And feel free to blog about the effort on behalf of Tricia, or email the link to a friend. Thanks in advance for your help.

– Connie

In the meantime, here are some suggestions for ways to commemorate Frozen Pea Friday besides monetary contributions:

1. Mike Gunderloy (@MikeG1) is donating platelets to his local Red Cross today. This is an excellent suggestion for any day of the week, but it’s especially meaningful to those of us at Frozen Pea Fund because chemo patients often need blood or platelets. Check out this post by Kate, who is battling pancreatic cancer and just received two units of blood and additional platelets.

2. Blog about the Frozen Pea Fund or tell your friends about it. Our donation widget is down temporarily, but we’re not going anywhere.

3. Change your avatar on Twitter, Facebook, or other social networking site to a peavatar. Don’t know what that is? Check out the Frozen Pea Friday group on Flickr. And if you haven’t uploaded your peavatar to Flickr, please do so.

4. Add your name to the Frappr map for the Frozen Pea Fund.

5. Check out SharingHope.tv, a new video project by the American Cancer Society that allows people to share their cancer stories in their own way. Here’s what Susan Reynolds had to say about SharingHope.

– Connie Reece

Susan Reynolds and Connie Reece (or Laverne and Shirley as they referred to themselves after viewing this video) finally got to meet in person this week when Susan and her husband, Bill, flew to Austin for meetings. Frozen Pea Friday #10 marked a milestone: incorporation and trademark papers have been filed. When completed, the Frozen Pea Fund will be a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation.

There will be a lot more to report in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. For now, Susan and Connie want to thank you for supporting those who, like Susan, are battling breast cancer, and for your support of cancer research and awareness through the Frozen Pea Fund.

The interview is about 30 minutes. Click to listen: FIR interview: Connie Reece, Frozen Pea Fund

Click the map to add your name.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IimOFfgvLE[/youtube]

Please take a few minutes, click on the Donate button in the sidebar and donate the price of a couple of bags of frozen peas to the American Cancer Society. That can, and will, make a difference in breast cancer research.

Special thanks to Marcel Lebrun (@Lebrun) of Radian 6 for providing social media monitoring services. As of the initial report on 12-24-07, some 120 different blogs have covered the story of Susan Reynolds and the creation of the Frozen Pea Fund.

Thank you, one and all!

UPDATE: Now over 200 blogs … as time allows, we will add links on the Who’s Talking About Peas page.