CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE


                           PROCLAMATION
                   Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day
                               October 13, 2022
WHEREAS October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and October 13, 2022 will be observed
nationally as Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day; and

WHEREAS an estimated 290,000 Americans will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer this
year, including over 7,000 women in Virginia; and

WHEREAS breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the
United States, and is expected to kill almost 43,000 American women, and over 1,000 Virginia
women, this year; and

WHEREAS metastatic breast cancer (MBC) occurs when breast cancer spreads to other parts
of the body, including the bones, lungs, liver and brain and has an average life expectancy of 26
months. Even with early detection and apparently successful treatment, approximately 30% of
stage 0 to III breast cancers will return as metastatic stage IV breast cancer; and

WHEREAS metastatic breast cancer affects all races and socioeconomic classes. While
Caucasian women see slightly higher incidence rates of breast cancer, the mortality rate for Black
women with breast cancer is 41 percent higher than that of Caucasian women, and breast cancer
is the leading cause of cancer-related death for Hispanic women; and

WHEREAS only 5% of the funding for breast cancer research funds research on MBC; and

WHEREAS METAvivor Research and Support, a national organization, funds critical research
on stage IV metastatic breast cancer, educates the public about metastatic breast cancer, and
seeks to increase the percentage of U.S. breast cancer research funding dedicated to MBC from
5 percent to 30 percent; and

WHEREAS on October 13th each year, METAvivor, together with the Moore Fight Moore
Strong organization, conducts the national #LightUpMBC campaign, to bring awareness to the
disease and to honor the lives lost to MBC. More than 200 buildings around the country will be
lit up in the colors of the metastatic breast cancer movement – teal, representing healing; pink,
in solidarity with the rest of the breast cancer community; and green, representing the triumph
of spring over winter, of life over death, and renewal and hope. The day will culminate in a
virtual broadcast, #LightUpMBC Live, to share inspiring stories of the metastatic breast cancer
community, and to raise research funds;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Lloyd Snook, Mayor, on behalf of the Charlottesville City Council,
declare October 13, 2022 to be Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day in the City of
Charlottesville, and encourage Charlottesville residents to join the national effort towards
awareness of metastatic breast cancer during October through the #LightUpMBCLive campaign.

Signed and sealed this 13th day of October 2022.


________________________
J. Lloyd Snook, III, Mayor