I got a call last week. The voice was unfamiliar, but the anxiety and frustration was well known to my heart. It was a mom who just found out her 14 year old daughter had melanoma; a stranger calling from California, frightened and frustrated about the lack of information offered by  her daughter’s dermatologist. An in situ melanoma was found in a mole her daughter had since birth. It was on an area of her breast that always well covered. Her daughter never tanned. The mole didn’t even look unusual! How could this happen?

I told her that “surprise” factor was the nature of adolescent melanoma and her story was all too familiar.  Melanoma in young people simply is not the same as adult melanoma which is why it is so often missed or misdiagnosed in young people. Fortunately, they found it quite early on her daughter and follow-up surgery was already scheduled. This California mom shared that she was thrilled to find The Claire Marie Foundation website, our research and possibly some answers about her daughter’s melanoma; the disease the medical professionals ignorantly believed her daughter was too young to get.

Calls such as this validates the mission of the Claire Marie Foundation. We wish someone had been there to warn us about the risk of melanoma in adolescents, children and young adults. We wish someone would have compiled and shared the warning signs and the nuances of detection. We especially wish we had faster access to removal of any and all atypical moles since melanoma grows faster and is more invasive in young people.

It takes more than sunscreen to stop this form of melanoma. Routine screening and early detection is the key, but getting a dermatological appointment can be the problem with an average wait time of three months.

Thats why the Claire Marie Foundation partners with top dermatologists to offer free skin screenings to young people. In 2017, we hosted four free screening events in April and May to anyone between the ages of 8-21 years old. Of the nearly 300 young people screened, 10% were found to have atypical moles with biopsy recommended for suspicion of melanoma. Happily, that is a decrease from our 2016 screenings, were dermatologists found 20% of the 120 young people screened had atypical moles with biopsy recommended.

These figures prove our awareness and prevention programs are working. Knowing melanoma can develop genetically or due to hormonal changes in puberty and pregnancy, screening is the best way to catch the disease before it develops – when a mole is just atypical or beginning to change. Remove the mole – remove the risk.

Equally important is the need to maintain a healthy, sun-safe,  preventive lifestyle!  Ditch the tanning booths, keep slathering on the sunscreen and invest in some UPF50 clothing.  Do it all with style and a smile, and #LiveLifeLikeClaire!

We are so excited and proud to announce that Elizabeth Liberatore is the 2017 Recipient of the Claire Marie Foundation Scholarship for Arts & Design! A Senior at Notre Dame Preparatory School, Liz is off to University of Virginia in the fall to study architecture and bring some joy, color and beauty to the world in her own way! We can’t wait to see her amazing creations! Special thanks to all of the fantastic design professionals who donated their time and expertise in judging our applicants: Katie Fico of Disney Animation Studios, Danielle DiFerdinando of Danielle Nicole Designs, Maryland’s First Lady – Mrs. Yumi Hogan – artist and MICA educator,  L.A. based Interior Designer Stacey Vuduris , Illustrator Inslee Haynes of Design by Inslee and stage lighting and set designer, Tim Swiss.

“Breathe deeply, move forward, you will feel the sunshine again.”

Claire wrote those words in her college application essay. It was a whispered thought, a mantra used to propel her through the toughest days. Little did she know those few words strung together would offer great inspiration to so many people who knew her; especially her friends as they face the emerging challenges that come with college, life and the professional world.

Now, we are blessed and so proud to see how they carry Claire’s exuberance and strength with them onto their college and university campuses as CMF Collegiate Ambassadors. Newly launched in April of 2017, our Collegiate Ambassador program boasts 55 representatives on 22 campuses nationwide sharing peer-to-peer awareness and education programs about melanoma in adolescents and young adults. It is the second most common cancer in young people and the number one cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 25 and 30.

By offering a presence at campus activities such as wellness fairs or speaking to small and large groups such as athletic teams or Greek organizations, CMF Ambassadors work hard to raise awareness of the prevalence of adolescent and young adult melanoma and just as importantly, the best way to prevent it.

Our Ambassadors do this all with style, creativity and the ever-present splash of ‘Claire Coral’. In just our first eight weeks, they managed to reach some 1600 students. Amazing! As we say, #AwarenessSavesLives!

If you are a college or university student and are interested in becoming a Claire Marie Foundation Collegiate Ambassador, let us know!