PSA

I interrupt our regularly scheduled (yeah, like there is anything regular or scheduled about this blog...) programming for a very important message:

As some of you may know, I am an alum of Leadership West. For LW, as with many leadership organizations, class members are required to undertake a project, sometimes as individuals, sometimes as groups. For LW it is groups.

This morning, I attended the Synthesis Day for Class XVI - the day that they present their projects to the their classmates, alumni, board members, and community leaders. The first group's project spoke to me.

It was called "Learn Don't Burn." Their mission was to educate the public on the prevalence and dangers of skin cancer and to provide information and resources on skin cancer prevention strategies.

Did you know:

• Arizona ranks number 2 in the world for skin cancer instances, only Australia ranks higher. 
• More than 20 Americans die each day from skin cancer, primarily melanoma. One person dies of melanoma almost every hour (every 62 minutes).
• 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer over the course of their lifetime.
• The UV rays in tanning beds increase the risk of skin cancer 75% for people who start using the beds before age 30.
• 
  

I scheduled a skin cancer screening for next week. And I suggest you do too.