Volunteer Opportunities
Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance Volunteer Opportunities
Do you want to educate others and raise awareness about invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) and the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance (LBCA)?
There are many different ways you can join in furthering our mission. You can help LBCA grow, spread the word about ILC, promote ILC research, and engage in advocacy in your local community. If you would like to join us as a volunteer and work with us on activities to help us achieve our mission, there are several ways LBCA can use your support.
Local Advocacy Teams (LATs)
Since its launch in the fall of 2023, our Local Advocacy Team (LAT) initiative continues to expand as a means to support individuals in the US in a common geographic area who are interested in extending LBCA’s nationwide ILC education and awareness efforts locally. Patient advocates interested in learning more about LATs and how to join or form one are invited to join ILC patient advocates from throughout the United States who meet monthly via Zoom for this purpose.
Volunteer to Assist with Research Advocacy
A research advocate can be a person with ILC, caregiver, former patient, or volunteer who has an interest in the science behind breast cancer research. LBCA ILC research advocates work to promote more ILC research and to forge collaborations among ILC researchers and other breast cancer organizations with which we partner to promote ILC research. Being an ILC research advocate also means helping to ensure the research that is conducted includes and accommodates the patient perspective and focuses on patient outcomes. LBCA supports research advocacy by providing resources for ILC research advocates, links to research advocacy opportunities, and tips for how to engage in research advocacy including links to research advocacy trainings.
LBCA’s research advocacy volunteer activities may include:
- Developing and updating LBCA’s ILC educational materials
- Helping keep LBCA’s ILC research library current and relevant
- Summarizing presentations and research for the LBCA website
- Helping to plan and execute virtual expert panels, video presentations, and podcasts
- Developing abstracts and posters to raise awareness of patient experiences with ILC at research conferences
- Developing curriculum materials on ILC for clinical training programs
- Working with LBCA’s scientific advisory board and other ILC researchers to ensure that new studies or clinical trials include ILC, and in developing and growing LBCA’s ILC grant-making capacity.
- Identifying clinical trials that seek ILC participants and/or studies that need ILC patient-advocate assistance
Fundraising and Development
Volunteer fundraising activities to help the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance grow may include:
- Developing a peer-to-peer fundraiserÂ
- Helping LBCA launch a fundraising campaign
- Hosting or helping to plan and implement a fundraising event, such as a virtual race
- Helping find and apply for grant opportunities
- Participate on the LBCA Development Committee to support LBCA fundraising activities
Outreach and Communications (aka education advocacy)
To help us share information about ILC and LBCA, volunteers may engage in activities including:
- Drafting and editing communications on ILC (e.g., including transcripts for interviewing people with ILC or ILC researchers, and developing content for brochures, posters, social media, pieces for the press, and for fundraising initiatives)
- Helping to maintain and increase social media visibility for LBCA and ILC
- Assisting with photography and video or graphic creations
- Participating in speaker training to become better spokespeople for LBCA when speaking with the media or at conferences
- Distributing brochures and educational materials on ILC at events and other outreach opportunities
- Reaching out to and establishing relationships with key contacts at cancer research centers and other breast cancer organizations around the country and internationally
Share Your Story
Many individuals diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), also known as lobular breast cancer have found their way to the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance (LBCA) and want to help build a community among peers. LBCA is thankful for those who have been diagnosed with ILC who want to share their experiences. Reading these stories is so important to those going through their own journey with ILC. If you’d like to share your experience with ILC, we’ll send you a list of questions to answer to help us put together a featured story.
Join LBCA in Education and Advocacy
Volunteer to Support Others with ILC through our Sister Organizations:Â
LBCA knows that a diagnosis of ILC presents unique challenges in terms of understanding one’s diagnosis and navigating treatment and life after treatment. LBCA partners with several established breast cancer support organizations to ensure there are trained volunteers ready to address the concerns and needs of others with ILC who are seeking support or simply to talk with peers.
If this type of volunteer activity is of interest, we encourage you to explore each of our partner organizations’ websites and determine the best fit for you. The volunteer application, training, and engagement for these opportunities is managed directly by each partner organization. Please note that in general, these volunteer opportunities require that you be out of treatment for at least one year and require an application, interview, and initial training. Our partners providing trained volunteer breast cancer peer support services include:
After Breast Cancer Diagnosis (ABCD): ABCD’s peer mentor program offers trained volunteer mentors who provide one-to-one emotional support by phone, text, or online to people affected by breast cancer. ABCD’s signature matching program connects people with breast cancer and Mentors based on their diagnoses and life circumstances. Mentors are individuals who have had or are living with breast cancer, friends or family members of a patient with breast cancer, or those who have been a caregiver to a person with breast cancer. All Mentors, with the exception of Metastatic Mentors, are at least one year past their last treatment date. Potential volunteers interested in the program can click here to learn more. Trainings for new Mentors typically take place twice a year.
SHARE Cancer Support: SHARE is a national nonprofit that supports, educates, and empowers women affected by breast or ovarian cancer, with a special focus on medically underserved communities. People with breast cancer can call the hotline to talk to a peer about any aspect of breast cancer, and patients with questions specifically about ILC can request lobular peer support. The lobular patient peer support initiative is run and managed through SHARE’s breast cancer national helpline and trained ILC peers are available via the helpline to take calls. People interested in volunteering for the program can click here.Â
Project Life: Project Life is a free virtual membership-based wellness house serving those living with stage IV advanced metastatic breast cancer as well as their caregivers. Their focus is on quality of life through five dimensions of wellness: financial, emotional, physical, social and spiritual. They concentrate on the whole person, building community and are inclusive of all regardless of skin color, and gender identity. The virtual wellness house is for metastatic patients and their loved ones. All of our programming is offered for free. Project Life also offers Peer to Peer Mentorship. The mentorship program matches mentees with trained peer mentors who have similar experiences and uniquely supports the mentors. There are a number of volunteers living with metastatic ILC who are available to mentor individuals with similar lived experience. Training for people who want to become a mentor is offered annually in October. If you are interested in finding a mentor, or exploring opportunities to be a mentor, please contact the Director of Mentorship, Abigail Johnston at mentorship@projectlifembc.com. Project Life was founded and created by those living with the disease.