Alan Saltiel

When Alan Saltiel’s wife, Paula, was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 1992 at age 41, she turned to Living Beyond Breast Cancer for support. Paula attended several conferences over the course of her treatment, recovery and eventual recurrence. She passed away in January 1996, leaving a long history of community involvement in women’s issues, medical and health care and Jewish organizations.

A few months after Paula passed away, Alan sent a letter with a check to LBBC. "It was a way I could support something she cared about," he says. "It was a way to help myself."

Alan thought volunteering would help him keep a connection with Paula and continue to support the work that was so important to her. Now you usually find Alan at the LBBC office every Wednesday. While the LBBC staff works at their desks, he is always there smiling and ready to help. He builds furniture, does handiwork, sends out mailings and provides much needed advice on insurance and other business matters.

But Alan’s volunteer work doesn’t stop there. He served five years on LBBC’s board of directors, including several years on the executive committee and four years as the finance chairman. Alan is also a familiar face at LBBC’s events. He’s helps support the staff at almost every educational conferences., In addition to his volunteer work, Alan made LBBC one of the major philanthropic priorities of the Paula A. Seidman Fund. His support helped create the Paula A. Seidman Library and Resource Center. The library, housed at LBBC’s Ardmore headquarters, has books, newsletters, pamphlets, magazines, and audio and videotapes on breast cancer. The fund also supported the printing and production of Getting Connected: African-Americans Living Beyond Breast Cancer and We Celebrate Tomorrow: Latinas Living Beyond Breast Cancer. To prevent cost from being a barrier, Alan generously provides travel scholarship support to enable women to attend LBBC’s educational conferences.

Alan’s reasons for volunteering at LBBC have changed, he says. He has become friends with the staff and loves being around the group at LBBC. He can’t help but talk about his "coworkers." "They are so dedicated," he jokes, "and it’s nonprofit, so they’re obviously not in it for the money."

In Alan’s eyes LBBC is special because, unlike a lot of cancer organizations out there, LBBC is the "only one dedicated to educating women." —Ben Einbinder

Linda Oken

As she walks into Living Beyond Breast Cancer’s office, Linda Oken greets the staff with warmth and cheerfulness. With a smile on her face, she is ready to help out again.

Linda, who was treated for breast cancer about six years ago, learned about LBBC from a friend who had worked with executive director Jean Sachs. When she was diagnosed, Linda researched treatment options during visits to LBBC’s Paula A. Seidman Library and Resource Center. Since then, her relationship with LBBC has blossomed.

Linda travels extensively, but she devotes time to LBBC whenever she is at home. She has worked on a resource guide for LBBC’s toll-free Survivors’ Helpline, a notebook that includes information on resources Helpline volunteers use to assist callers. She goes to health fairs and community events, updates the computer database, helps prepare for conferences, takes phone calls and assists with mailings.

"What’s fun about volunteering here is that there are other people. It’s wonderful to hear their stories," says Oken.

Her story adds all the more color to a tightly knit organization. A mother of two, Oken has worked as a schoolteacher, a reproductive health educator and a computer science trainer and consultant. She retired after her diagnosis and now spends much of her time traveling, knitting sweaters for her grandchildren and volunteering. She considers herself fortunate to have been successfully treated for breast cancer after a rough period of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Although breast cancer is now a memory, Oken is eager to help others through the experience. Her attachment to the staff and the organization’s mission brings her back to LBBC each year.

"I found myself thinking, ‘Now what?’ after my treatment. LBBC’s wonderful because it’s future-oriented. It helps you live beyond breast cancer." —Samhita Bhargava

Phyllis H. Allen

Phyllis H. Allen’s passion for assisting women affected by breast cancer comes not only from her own experience with the disease but also from her experiences as a child.

When Phyllis was just 10 years old, her grandmother died of breast cancer. The night she passed away, she had been sent home from the hospital without knowing she was going to die. Just several decades ago, healthcare professionals did not use the "c" word because they did not want to frighten the patient.

Then in January 2002, Phyllis was diagnosed herself. For seven months she received treatment, including a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. Talking to women who had experienced breast cancer helped Phyllis through especially difficult times. And while she was in the hospital, Phyllis supported others who struggled with the diagnosis.

Phyllis is a lawyer by profession, but when she sat down with doctors to discuss her treatment, she found the medical jargon with respect to chemotherapy incomprehensible. Phyllis’s eventual understanding of the complexities around selecting treatment now enables her to provide information and empathy to women struggling with their own diagnosis.

As a volunteer on LBBC’s Survivors’ Helpline, Phyllis is committed to reaching out to African-American women affected by breast cancer. She wants to eliminate the disparity through education about the disease within the African-American community. Through churches and other community organizations she is developing a support network. As she says, "No stone can be left unturned."

Phyllis conducts cultural competency and communication training sessions for graduates in social work, nurses and other healthcare professionals. She also attends conferences for nurses and healthcare professionals as well as local health fairs as an LBBC representative. As a result of her activities on behalf of Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Phyllis was selected as an honoree at the Annual Butterfly Ball in 2007. She is, in her own words, "A true advocate for other women to get information. I want them to know that there are no stupid questions, and not to be afraid of a breast cancer diagnosis." —Alison Klos

Sonia Gutierrez

At 59 years old, Sonia Gutierrez of Mount Laurel, New Jersey, enjoys a life full of family and friends. With her daughters now grown, Sonia devotes much of her time and energy to her embroidery business, Monogram House, that she owns and runs with her husband.

When Sonia was called to her doctor’s office to receive biopsy results five years ago, she met her breast cancer diagnosis head on and refused to let her everyday life be disrupted by it. Sonia’s firm belief in the importance of yearly mammograms had led her doctors to find her cancer at an early and treatable stage. Facing a lumpectomy and five weeks of radiation, Sonia worried only about telling her daughters that she had cancer. Her confidence that she would recover helped her family through this difficult time.

Since her treatment, Sonia has jumped head first into the breast cancer community. She travels with a friend who works for the New Jersey Health Department and has joined a support group to tell her story and encourage women in the Latina community to schedule yearly mammograms.

Sonia found out about Living Beyond Breast Cancer through her support group at Cooper Hospital. A friend told her about LBBC’s upcoming publication, We Celebrate Tomorrow: Latinas Living Beyond Breast Cancer/Celebramos el Mañana: Latinas que Sobreviven el Cáncer del Seno, and encouraged Sonia to participate. Sonia was eager to educate herself about cancer and to inform other Latinas about it as well. She thought a book written in English and Spanish was a great way to educate Latinas about cancer.

Around the time of the publication of We Celebrate Tomorrow, Sonia became an LBBC Survivors’ Helpline volunteer. She frequently answers Helpline calls from women seeking medical information and social support. She is proud to be a resource for women who may face language barriers in their search for breast cancer information.

"I wanted to tell Spanish-speaking women that they won’t die tomorrow because they have breast cancer. I wanted to let them know where to find help and what treatments will work. Some women are so happy that they talked to me."

Sonia remains an active helpline volunteer and has represented LBBC and distributed We Celebrate Tomorrow at a Philadelphia health fair. She feels extremely rewarded knowing that she can give women hope and life-saving advice.

"Women in the Latina community sometimes are afraid to talk about cancer. Hearing others’ stories and sharing information can change someone’s life." --Mary Alice Hartsock, LBBC Staff