President's Notes

27 September 2026

Greetings!

I’d like to take some time for a year in review, let you know what we’ve been doing since the last time we gathered during Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

2026 BOCS GOALS

• Recruit slate of 2026 BOCS Officers (President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary) to be approved at first BOCS Board meeting of 2027.

• Recruit at least one new at large board member to begin their three year term in January 2027.

At the luncheon last year, we introduced Faith Miles as our new treasurer.

We had Cammy Hutchinson join the board, Christen Montgomery joined the board also.

And right now, we are looking for a president, vice president and additional board member to start begin leadership in January.

It’s not a heavy lift, these leadership roles, as many of us on the board have been involved for years.  We are organized, we have a rhythm to the year, and predictability with what we’re doing.  We have unmet goals and we are ready to move forward.

So let’s talk about this past year.

Awareness

• Maintain current web presence and social media.  Instagram, Facebook.

We started an Instagram account.  Follow us if you do Instagram.

We keep our Facebook presence active.  And our website is current, except for adding some pictures of Turn the Towns Teal.  BOCSky.org

• Participate in 2 or more community activities promoting awareness of ovarian and other

gynecologic cancers.

What we did:

KY Extension Homemakers Association conference - May

Rose acquired OCRA symptom/risk factor cards to put in the 525 registration packets.  And I “designed” a BOCS flyer to also include in the packets so one of our flyers went to all 525 attendees.

UK Markey Survivorship Celebration - June

We bought 500 BOCS pens.  Apryl, Rose and I did a table with brochures and we created “game”cards that you saw on the registration table.  We spoke to nearly 100 people and gave out materials such as teal ribbon stickers, our sticker, business card and our flyer.

Turn the Towns Teal in Central Kentucky - Sept

Pat Gault and her volunteers made approximately 45 bows and placed them in downtown Richmond, Markey Cancer Center Richmond, Baldwin CPA’S in Richmond and their other locations in Lexington, Louisville, Maysville and Flemingsburg.  Thrivent Financial opened their office to the volunteers providing water, gift bags, tee shirts, donuts, and lots of support. 

We have pictures from Pat to put on our website but right now, we link to an article in the Richmond Register with Pat and friends hanging bows, sharing symptoms and risk factors.

Melissa Lee and 3 volunteers hung 30 bows in Winchester.

Overall, 342 total bows with more than 34 volunteers and bows in Lexington, Richmond, Georgetown, Versailles.   ALSO: Centerpoint Health, Georgetown and the UK Markey Cancer Center.  We have lots of photos on our website.  

UK Gynecologic Oncology hung 103 bows in Bowling Green, Purchase District in Western KY, Greenup County, Maysville, Jackson, Somerset, and Harrodsburg.  And we have those photos to post.

LGBTQ Health and Wellness fair @ Bluegrass Care Navigators - Sept

Cammy, Rose and I tabled at the event yesterday.  It was the 3rd year of the event and our 3rd year being there along with many other organizations from the community and beyond.  We had 53 people stop by for information and we gave away some “retired” care bags.

We are working on cultivating relationships with Baptist Health and UK GYNONC for sharing BOCS flyers and materials.

We continue providing care bags to facilities in Central Kentucky: UK Markey Center, Baptist Health. We are investigating St. Joseph and Lexington Clinic.

This year we revamped the care bags.  We have more items but we still kept the cost at $10 each, including the cost of the bag. 

Cammy volunteered to assemble and deliver the care bags.  We acquired the list of items including a face scrubby, a mirror compact, facemasks, eye patches, a candle in a pretty tin, a notebook, a teal satin pillowcase, and the teal bag is included in the $10 cost.

Cammy delivered bags to UK GYNONC department and we’d like to do the same at Baptist Health Cancer Center.  

Education

• Add at least one or more facilitators to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance’s

“Survivors Teaching Students” program.

Rose has been the facilitator for I don’t know how many years and she could use some help.

• Offer, and provide as requested, the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance’s “Survivors Teaching Students” program to: UK third year medical, UK Physician Assistant, UK Nurse Practitioner and UK Nursing students.

Statistics for STS since the luncheon last year ---

STS presentations:  10 to UK Medical Students and UK PA Students

Students reached:  175

STS presenters participating:  7

• Add at least one or more presenters to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance’s “Survivors Teaching Students” program.

We’d like to have more presenters.  If you would like to share your cancer experience with these students, help them understand the experience as a patient, and to share OCRA information, please talk to Rose.

• Have guest speakers for continuing education at our monthly meetings in alternating months.

Which we did.

Jan, Mar, and July we met in-person at Ramsey's on West Zandale

Feb 18 - 7pm Zoom - Nina Ritrovato from Unite for HER, uniteforher.org

Unite for HER is a national nonprofit organization that provides integrative therapies, services, support, and education directly to patients at no personal cost. From our team of Registered Dietitians offering 1:1 personal nutrition consultations, comprehensive side effect management guides, health guides, and cooking webinars - all the way to our monthly educational series and 6-week workshops - Unite for HER supports patients along their journey, empowering them to create a wellness plan that works for them: mind, body and soul.

The meeting recording is available.

Apr 15 - 7pm Zoom - Judy Hatch APRN, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner of the Baptist Oncology Behavioral Health Program

Topic: Uncertainty

Judy created and developed the Oncology Behavioral Health Services at Baptist Health Lexington in 2017. She works with patients who are diagnosed with cancer and is available to their significant others as needed. Services are provided at any time in a patient's cancer journey and recovery period.

Aug 19 - 7pm Zoom - Lori Mangum, Vice President, Community Engagement, Gilda's Club Kentuckiana

Topic: Gilda's Club services which include.  Free cancer support so no one faces cancer alone.  The mission of Gilda’s Club Kentuckiana and their Cancer Support Community partners is to uplift and strengthen people impacted by cancer by providing support, fostering compassionate communities, and breaking down barriers to care.

They have offices in Louisville and Southern Indiana.  And have been doing a program once a month this past summer at the Kentucky Cancer Program office here in Lexington.

Support

• Create list of those people who want to be informed about happenings, but also ways they can help support and donate.

We signed up for MailChimp in the spring.  Huge learning curve, expensive and not what we needed.  We cancelled.

Then in August, we signed up for Constant Contact.  And created listserv signup form:  https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/2lRIfs9/bocslistserv

• Participate in at least one online fundraising campaign during the year, such as the Blue Grass Community Foundation’s “Bluegrass Gives.”

We did that in 2025.  We raised $3839.85, $1300 more than the previous year.

We are registered for this year, Bluegrass Gives will kick off at 6am on Giving Tuesday, December 1.  This is our only fundraiser of the year and if you are on our mailing list or follow us on social media, you will hear a lot about it that day.  

There are specific giving windows that we’ll have opportunities to increase your gift through matches.  Also, you have the ability to create your own page under ours, for reaching out to friends and having your own leaderboard.  We’d love for you to do that.

• Continue with Kroger Community Rewards.  And promote regularly.  

We have not been promoting this regularly.  We received $215.17 through this program.  If you are not already donating to an organization through Kroger Community Rewards, consider BOCS.  Our organization ID JQ827.  

• Create an easy avenue for online donations.  Add to Facebook.

Faith and I spent weeks working on Paypal and Facebook, and we got verified.  Now our Paypal link is on our Facebook page.  And Instagram.

And our Paypal link is in several places on our website. 

We would like to increase the number of attendees of monthly support meetings.

And also do more around the online OCRA International Gynecologic Cancer Conference.

• Hold a survivor’s luncheon in September.  

And here we are.  We have 19 survivors and 17 friends, family, and healthcare professionals.  We’re so happy you are here, celebrating together because in this community, we know what it’s like.  

LASTLY.

I told everyone last year, this was it, I’m finished after this year.  I have done my best the last five years but I know there are skills I don’t have.  We’re ready for the next person to step up.  And again, we’ve got a rhythm and a plan.  We do goals every December/January and do the best we can to reach people.  You can be a part of this.  

I’ll stay on the board but in the last four years, I’ve been a PTSA mom [that’s parent teacher student association] and PTSA president – that was a crazy year.  I am currently leading a volunteer workgroup for an international library organization and we meet monthly, with projects we do through the year for that community.  I have a demanding job with travel throughout Kentucky that I love.  I am an elder in my church and have people to look after.  I have a family and an active teenager who has marching band, a job and Scouts.  I have a full plate and I need to let this go.  I’m staying on the board to help out behind the scenes but that’s it.  

I call upon a few of you to join the board, and help move us forward.  

That’s my pitch.  We’ve had a really good year I think.  Relationships are being nurtured, and we’re getting out information.  And you are here.  Thank you.

If you'd like to get involved, email webadmin@BOCSky.org.  

Enid Wohlstein,

President 2022-2026

VP 2021-22