Remembering Kate – ma Cares Partners With Earlier.org to Support Breast Cancer Awareness

Kate Kenworthy-Rodrigues loved her daughter, nine year old Victoria. She loved her husband, Stephen, and partnered with him in work as well as life, authoring a book together on starting a career in fitness. She cared for her body, as a certified athletic trainer and conditioning specialist, and she cared for her community, fundraising for the Boys & Girls Club and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.  When she passed away from a malignant form of breast cancer on July 22^nd, the Market America community lost a distributor who represented everything we believe in—persistence, courage, hard work grace, and family.

When you enter the arena on August 9^th, among the excitement and glitz of MAIC, keep your eye out for a large wire dress form, waiting patiently for your attention. Breast cancer testing and research charity Earlier.org’s first form, named Shirley, has traveled all over the country with a stack of pink ribbons, standing as a visual reminder of the women affected by this terrible disease. At each stop, survivors, their families, and those who have lost loved ones have purchased pink ribbons to tie onto the frame, adorning the shape in a beautiful gown of pink that bears the names of so many strong, beautiful women. It is a testament to love that Shirley has had to be retired, full of of too many pink ribbons to carry, and we are honored that Brandi Quinn and MA Cares have brought a new mannequin to support this cause—and this one will be named Kate.

MA Cares chose Earlier.org for several reasons—they’re a local Greensboro, N.C.-based charity, with extremely low overhead and a passionate devotion to their cause: earlier detection of breast cancers. Founder Martha Kaley’s breast cancer was detected only when her chocolate lab, Sherlock, jumped on her and scratched her chest in the exact spot that a tumor was developing. When she touched it, because of the pain of the bruise, she felt a lump that a mammogram just three months earlier had missed—and during surgery, doctors discovered another buried so deep in her chest that it could never have been detected by current testing technology. They’ve funded research at UNC, Stanford University, and the Mayo Clinic, among others, to advance testing technology so that more cancers can be found earlier.too many pink ribbons to carry, and we are honored that Brandi Quinn and MA Cares have brought a new mannequin to support this cause—and this one will be named Kate.

Make sure to take time out of your convention schedule to stop by and honor a distributor who worked as hard at her business as she did the rest of her life. Victoria and the rest of Kate’s family will see the before and after of the bust after the four days at Convention, and we know the Market America family will send Kate on her way with the kind of support only you are capable of displaying. It is with our love and support for the millions of people touched by breast cancer that we can honor the survivors and fighters in your own lives and make a difference.