OOFOS Making a Difference All Year Long
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month — a time dedicated to raising awareness and funds to support cancer research, treatment, and, moving closer to a cure.
At OOFOS, we're proud to be a part of this important effort through our Project Pink initiative. But it’s not just October for us. Our dedication to this initiative is a year-round commitment with every day donations through OOFOS.com.
Project Pink in 2023
We strive to make a difference, honor our friend Duncan, and support those affected by the disease day in and day out.
In March of this year, we proudly sponsored the Pan-Mass Challenge Winter Cycle – a 45-minute indoor cycling session held at Fenway Park led by Boston-area instructors. Each year, this ride kicks off our partnership with the PMC which includes Winter Cycle, PMC and PMC Unpaved. It also marks a powerful moment for participants. The dynamic ride allows riders to come together, pedal towards progress, and channel their energy in the fight against cancer.
On April 15th, OOFOS supplied runners on the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Boston Marathon Team with OOfoam™ Active Recovery. Each year, we are both impressed with and inspired by the DFCI Team’s dedication to running, riding and raising money for patient funds and cancer research. We are proud to take meaningful steps together.
This June, we teamed up with pro hockey goalie and OOcrew member, Jeremy Swayman, and 98.5 The Sports Hub, pledging to donate $10 for every save made by Swayman and other Boston Bruins goalies throughout the hockey season. With more than 240 saves recorded during the Kick Saves for Cancer campaign, we were able to donate $24,730 directly to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
In August, former pro quarterback and OOcrew member, Alex Smith, rode alongside OOFOS employees as part of Team Duncan in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a 200-mile bike ride that raises money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. It is the #1 cause-related cycling event in the country. The team raised over $900k and rode to honor Duncan.
This September, OOFOS proudly sponsored the final Pan-Mass Challenge event of the year – PMC Unpaved, a gravel cycling off-road ride. Pro-triathlete, gravel cyclist and OOcrew member, Angela Naeth, rode alongside community members who came together to give back and participate in something bigger. As the Official Recovery Footwear of the Pan-Mass Challenge, participants were able to recover actively by the campfire post-ride.
We're not just about October for awareness; we're about a year-round commitment..
OOFOS, Project Pink, and
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Like so many others, our connection to the cause is a personal one.
One of OOFOS’ original employees, Duncan Finigan, received a life-changing diagnosis in October 2014. Living She lived life to the fullest with stage IV breast cancer for 4 more years, she didn’t let the disease slow her down. She participated in the Pan-Mass Challenge and worked with the 4 OOFOS founders to launch the Project Pink program. To honor her memory following her passing in 2019, OOFOS remains committed to Project Pink as a way to give back and support the work of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund.
Beyond always seeking to discover a cure, Project Pink and OOFOS has made a meaningful impact in the effort to find treatments to help patients live better and longer with cancer, including detecting it earlier.
Funds have provided direct support to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for research to improve patient care and find a cure for breast cancer. This includes the collection, organization and integration of the clinical, genomic and biomarker data from various cohorts of interest across patients with breast cancer.
Specifically, OOFOS has allowed Dana-Farber to hire clinical research coordinators to assist breast oncology providers in tracking patients and profiling their tumors, helping guide treatment decisions and match for appropriate clinical trials. In addition, the research coordinators are able to gather consent from patients interested in contributing to research through our various cohort studies.
For those patients who consented to these studies, Dana-Farber has used funding for resources to collect key clinical data and biospecimens over the course of their treatment for concurrent translational research. Investigators have been able to analyze tissue and blood samples, collected either prior to the start of treatment or at the time of disease progression; this is invaluable for studying genetic changes and resistance mechanisms adopted by breast cancer cells during treatment. Furthermore, they will also be able to identify and study patterns in mutational profiles that may inform more specific approaches to addressing resistance, among other key research questions.
We are proud of the day-to-day impact Project Pink is having on research and treatments at Dana-Farber. As the Official Recovery Footwear of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, we’ve donated more than $3.5 million to the cause.
How yOO Can Help
Purchase any OOFOS style on OOFOS.com and a percentage is donated directly to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for patient care and cancer research.
Continuing our commitment to a cure, Project Pink has expanded to include 2 more treatment and research partners. In April 2021, we announced our first international Project Pink partnership with The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in England and Wales, a fundraising movement focused on building a better future for cancer patients. In October 2022, OOFOS also became the Official Recovery Footwear of The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation in Canada, raising more funds to find a cure.
While Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October is a significant time to highlight our Project Pink initiative, our commitment extends far beyond a single month. We are actively involved in this cause throughout the entire year.
Every step of this journey is fueled by our commitment to making a difference, a journey we can make together.
Ready to help? Shop any product here on our website and a percentage of your purchase will contribute to patient care and cancer research. Shop our collection of slides, sandals, and shoes or check out the latest arrivals.
