Editorial | Girls Night Out organizers succeed on two fronts

The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·2 min read

It’s time once again to offer a tip of the cap to the organizers of the Taunia Oechslin Girls Night Out event, now in its 16th year.

The annual gathering has two purposes – to raise money for treatment of breast cancer and to educate women about the disease – and this year’s edition provided concrete examples that organizers are succeeding in both ways.

In terms of awareness, consider Wendy Pierce, of Johnstown, who told a crowd of 1,000 women at the April 30 event that she credits Oechslin with saving her life, as our Kelly Urban reported.

Oechslin started Girls Night Out as a small “pay-it-forward” project before she died of breast cancer in 2009 at age 39. Her goal was to make sure every woman is educated about breast cancer, understands the value of early detection and can receive proper treatment.

Before Pierce attended Girls Night Out, she said, she rarely performed self-breast examinations such as the one that caught her cancer early.

“I found a lump, and I have zero breast cancer in my family,” Pierce said. “I really credit Taunia Oechslin and what she set out to do to educate women. She created a legacy. … I want to pick up her baton and run with it and pass it on to the next generation to keep that message out there. I found mine early enough and it saved my life, so early detection is the key.”

And on the fundraising front, organizers last week presented a check for $150,000 raised at this year’s event to the Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center in Windber. The donation brought the total raised through Girls Night Out for the center to $1.5 million over 16 years.

The money is used to ensure that the center has up-to-date equipment for the detection and treatment of breast cancer, and to provide financial assistance to patients for mammograms, biopsies, surgeries, genetic testing and other services.

Meghan Stahl-Skinner, board president of the Taunia Oechslin Girls Night Out Foundation, said: “All of the help that we have given to patients just brings us an overwhelming feeling that we are helping the community. We feel like we are really making a difference with women and breast health. … It’s astonishing that, 16 years in, the community is still supporting us and are so very generous with the fundraising that evening.”