Healthy people, 16 yrs old and older, are needed to donate blood at the Aledo Community Blood Drive on Saturday, January 24th from 7am unitl 11am at the Community Bible Fellowship, 1109 Southeast 3rd St in Aledo. A Blood Donor card or photo I.D. is required to donate.  Sixteen year olds must have a completed parental consent form, which is available at www.bloodcenter.org.

For more information, or to arrange an appointment, please call Tammy Mizner at 309-371-6914.

In observation of Breast Cancer Awareness Month Gilda's Club Quad Cities is hosting a workshop for women with HER2-positive Breast Cancer.  

HER2-positive breast cancer is a breast cancer that tests positive for a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2), which promotes the growth of cancer cells. In about one of every three breast cancers, the cancer cells make an excess of HER2 due to a gene mutation. This gene mutation can occur in many types of cancer – not only breast cancer.

HER2-positive breast cancers tend to be more aggressive than other types of breast cancer. They're also less responsive to hormone treatment. However, new treatments that specifically target HER2 are proving to be very effective.

The workshop is called HER Story and will be October 7 at 5:30 p.m. For this workshop will have two guest speakers.  Amber is a HER Story patient Ambassador who was only 32 years old, with two pre-school daughters, when a nagging pain in her shoulder subsequently led to a breast cancer diagnosis in 2006.  She is the educational coordinator at her church and handled her diagnosis at the same time that she had a serious issue at home to deal with. We will also have an oncology nurse specialist to answer your questions. Refreshments and appetizers will be served.

For questions or to register for this free program call Gilda's Club at 563-326-7504.

This workshop is sponsored by Genetech BioOncology.