MIDDLETOWN — Erika Rech and Michael Ruane formed Breast Friends Forever to help women and their families who were diagnosed with breast cancer and were recently recognized for their efforts.
The Middletown cousins were honored by being chosen as finalists in the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards and know that with recognition, their message is spreading further.
“It was a thrill for Mike and me to be recognized as two of the Distinguished Finalists in the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards,” Rech said.
“We were also named Top Youth Volunteers in New Jersey for 2009 by the New Jersey General Assembly and received the President’s Call to Service Award. The most rewarding thing is to realize that we have accomplished something wonderful and we have the full support of our community.”
The two 17-year-olds, now juniors in high school, formed a nonprofit to help families navigate through a cancer diagnosis by providing resources and emotional and financial support. They will receive an engraved medallion for being named Distinguished Finalists.
To date the nonprofit they founded has raised over $50,000. When the two applied for the award, they had raised only $20,000.
“We are continuing to help many women and their families who are in need,” Ruane said. “I’m elated that we won the award, not for the recognition, but in getting the word out about our organization. The more people that know about us the more people we can help, and that is our ultimate goal.”
When the group formed, the goal was to help women and their families and it has grown from there.
“We never realized how many people would be willing to share their time and efforts for those in need,” Rech said. “We have been able to make a difference in someone’s life when they are going through a difficult time. We always tell them not to pay us back, just pay it forward.”
Ruane said that being honored helps get their cause into the public eye.
“I found out through Breast Friends that playing it small does not serve the world,” Ruane said. “Through Breast Friends Forever I have helped several families when they needed it most. I will never play anything small.”
The group’s name came from their participation in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, an annual event that pays tribute to cancer survivors while raising money for research.
“Our team name was ‘Breast Friends,’” Rech said. “So when we started our charity, it became ‘Breast Friends Forever.’”
The teens pooled together their savings to pay the legal costs to register their charity as a 501(c)(3).
Erika and Mike designed a Web site, www.breastfriendsforever.org, to spread the word and entered the Prudential Spirit of Community competition as a way of publicizing their charity.
Through social workers at Monmouth Medical Center’s Jacqueline M. Wilentz Breast Center and contacts at the Wellness Community as well as local oncologists, Breast Friends Forever provides patients with the things they need — medical co-pays, gas cards, school supplies for their children, wigs, medicine, transportation and more.
They made their first donation in August 2007.
“We hope we are able to inspire others to give of themselves too,” Rech said. “We can accomplish anything as long as a first step is taken. Every journey begins with a first step.”
Contact Jamie Romm at