The 2007 Colondar -- Young Cancer Survivors Show Scars to Save Lives

For the third year in a row, young cancer survivors have bared their bellies in a calendar that brings attention to a deadly disease few want to talk about – colorectal cancer. The 2007 Colondar is not just a calendar with beautiful model-survivors revealing their surgical scars – it also educates about colorectal cancer by telling a small part of each of the models’ stories.

The 2007 Colondar includes more models, and more stories of survival, than ever before. The 25 models were diagnosed in their teens, 20s, 30s and 40s – the youngest at just 13, decades before most people even begin to think about getting screened.

They include a 17-year survivor who was told he would only live a few months, sisters who were diagnosed just ten weeks apart, an Army officer who says having cancer was scarier than being in the Pentagon on September 11, a third-grade teacher who was diagnosed while her mother was undergoing treatment for colon cancer, and a former NBA player who believed he was in excellent health. They are all ordinary people who are sharing their extraordinary stories of surviving colorectal cancer to prove that anyone can get the disease at any age.

"The Colon Club was started to raise awareness about colorectal cancer and to show that it can happen to anyone. The Colondar is a fantastic way to do that, and this one is our best yet!" said Molly McMaster, founder of The Colon Club and a seven-year survivor of stage II colon cancer. "I really don’t know how we’re going to top it next year!"

The 2007 Colondar has also undergone an artistic transformation. Expect two models in every photograph and a more artistic look. The entire Colondar is in black and white, and the size is a flat 19"x12", which gives the calendar a distinctive and dramatic look.

The price of the 2007 Colondar is $15.00, including shipping and handling within the United States. It is available for purchase at www.COLONDAR.com and at selected locations across the country. 2007 Colondar sponsors include the Colon Cancer Alliance (CCA), Colorectal Cancer Coalition (C3), the Figg Tree Foundation, Glens Falls Hospital and Olympus America.

Sales of the 2007 Colondar benefit The Colon Club, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating young people about colorectal cancer. The Colon Club is best known for creating the Colossal Colon®, a 40-foot long replica of the human colon that has traveled across the country since 2002. For the past three years, The Colon Club has produced the award-winning Colondar, which has won a 2005 American Graphic Design Award, a 2006 Albany Ad Club Nori Award, and both 2005 and 2006 Communicator Awards of Distinction.

To read more about each of the models’ stories, visit www.colondar.com.

The 2007 Colondar Models

January -- Jim Farmer, Kim Gimpel
February -- Queah Habern, Terry Miller
March -- Holly Rochelle, Lisa Dubow
April -- Kim Troisi-Paton, Anita Mitchell
May -- Corinne Cole, Colleen Cormier
June -- Tiphanie Wiebe, Darrick Price
July -- Dr. Claudia Cartwright, Michael West
August -- Michelle Sedor, Jean Cannizzo
September -- Heather Sherwin, Dean Brusie
October -- Sonja Lee, Dr. Jeff Carenza
November -- Marcy Brown, Jeff Young
December -- Melissa Stahl, Bob Baker
Cover -- Erika Kratzer, Heather Sherwin

About The Colondar
Now in its third year, the Colondar is becoming increasingly well-known throughout the colorectal cancer community and beyond. A total of 53 models have posed for the Colondar, and over 20,000 Colondars are now in circulation all over the world. The Colondar is dedicated to the life of 2007 co-cover model Erika Kratzer, who is the original inspiration for the Colondar. Erika was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer at the age of 22 and was given little hope of survival. After three surgeries, two rounds of chemotherapy, and one recurrence, she just celebrated her sixth year of survivorship and her fifth year cancer-free. Erika was Miss November in the 2005 Colondar and her eye-catching abdominal scar has graced the cover of every Colondar.

About The Colon Club
The Colon Club was founded in 2003 by Molly McMaster, a colon cancer survivor who was diagnosed on her 23rd birthday, and Hannah Vogler, whose cousin and Molly's friend, Amanda Sherwood Roberts, died of the disease at the age of 27. Their main goal is to educate as many people as possible, as early as possible, about colorectal cancer in interesting and out-of-the-box ways. Their wishes are for people to have "colon talk" in their everyday lives, to know the risk factors and symptoms, and to get screened when it is appropriate for them.

The most well-known project of The Colon Club is the Colossal Colon®, a 40-foot, 4-foot tall crawl-through replica of the human colon designed to educate the public about colorectal cancer. "Coco," as the Colossal Colon® is affectionately known, is dedicated to Amanda. It was unveiled in March of 2002 and has traveled to almost 100 cities in over 40 states as well as Canada. The Colon Club’s Web site hosts a message board that is primarily designed for younger patients and survivors of colorectal cancer. Since it became active, the message board has averaged over one new user per day, and serves survivors of all ages from all over the globe.

Source: The Colon Club

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