Be The Difference Foundation’s events Sept. 7, 14 and 29

By Deb Silverthorn

The spokes are spinning as training is in high gear for Be The Difference Foundation’s 12th annual Wheel to Survive cycle event, to be held at Venue Forty|50, to raise money for ovarian cancer research and support. Participation in any of the 45-minute kickoff cycling events starting at 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7, and a 60-minute Savasana yoga session on Saturday, Sept. 14, all The Eye at the Joule, includes registration in the 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, Wheel to Survive.

“We’re back ’to fight against ovarian cancer while providing support to many great organizations to conduct research, teach and support patients with the disease and their families,” said Jon Mize, BTDF’s director of operations, events and corporate partnerships. “It’s year 12 and our commitment is stronger than ever.”

The training rides will be led at 8:30 a.m. by Spenga Plano’s Courtney Echols and at 10 a.m. by Spencer Byrne of Class Studios and will include a bagel and schmear from Starship Bagel. The “m-EYE-ndful” yoga flow class, taught by Sonia Azad and focusing on strength, flexibility, balance and mobility at all levels, will include fruit bars and juices.

One in 40 Ashkenazic Jews has a BRCA mutation (10 times as much as other populations). The American Cancer Society estimates that, in 2024, 19,680 new cases of ovarian cancer will be diagnosed and 12,740 women will die of ovarian cancer in the United States. The numbers are down only a few hundred cases over years past.

Wheel to Survive will have 75 bikes on-site and will again host a virtual ride, with participants connected by Zoom from around the world. Sponsors of the 2024 ride include Medical City Dallas, Texas Family Fitness, Texas Oncology and Wood Partners.

At Venue Forty|50, raffle tickets offer prizes that include a variety of gift cards, four tickets to a Dallas Mavericks basketball game, a night at The Joule luxury hotel, a private chef-created dinner for eight and a membership to TruFusion Dallas fitness studio.

Be The Difference Foundation, with Wheel to Survive, was founded in 2012 by ovarian cancer survivors Jill Bach and Julie Shrell and, of blessed memory, Helen Gardner and Lynn Lentscher. Since 2012, more than $5.7 million has been shared to organizations, funding research, education and support for ovarian cancer patients and their loved ones around the country.

Be The Difference Foundation supports the Clarity Foundation, Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center, Lazarex Cancer Foundation, Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Moon Shots Program at MD Anderson Cancer Center, NYU Langone Medical Center-Perlmutter Cancer Center, Prisma Health, University of Pennsylvania and UT Southwestern Medical Center. With the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, it also hosts Survivors Teaching Students, where survivors share their experiences with future health care providers.

Dr. Lindsay G. Cowell, who joined UT Southwestern’s Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2010, is an immunologist whose research focuses on early detection through immunological responses.  Funding is difficult to attain, until proven feasibility. She explains that dollars raised from the Be The Difference Foundation are instrumental.

“As a beneficiary of Be The Difference Foundation, we are able to acquire critical data and prove ourselves,” she said.  “I am passionate about my work and, as a team, we are incredibly grateful and honored to be able to do the work that we are certain will be the difference.”

Lauren Lattman Holtzman and Lauren Hirsch Shecht, BTDF’s “The Laurens,” return for a second year as Wheel to Survive co-chairs.

This is the seventh year for Holtzman to serve on Wheel to Survive’s committee. She is a dear friend of Shecht’s and a cousin of BTFD co-founder Julie Shrell and her daughters, Marissa Shrell Kaufman and Simone Shrell Noble, who also tested positive for the BRCA1 gene. In 2022, Kaufman was diagnosed with breast cancer and, after seven months of chemotherapy, underwent a double mastectomy. Noble, in 2023, made the decision to have a prophylactic double mastectomy, decreasing her risk of breast cancer from 80% to 4%.

Shecht, whose mother Donna Hirsch and aunt Janet Schmidt both tested positive for the BRCA1 mutation and were both diagnosed with breast cancer, in 2013 had an elective mastectomy after she too tested positive for BRCA1. Three years later, while having a hysterectomy after developing ovarian cancer symptoms, she was diagnosed with the disease at stage 3c. She has since gone through treatments and survived yet another recurrence.

“This disease never stops,” Mize added, “but neither do we.”

TJP readers receive a 50% discount for registration with the promo code TJP. To register for the kickoff events, visit tinyurl.com/Wheel-To-Survive-KickOff. To register for the Sept. 29 Wheel to Survive, or to make a donation, visit tinyurl.com/Wheel-to-Survive.