Countywide : Breast Cancer Booths to Target Shoppers

Shopping centers throughout Orange County are joining forces this summer to inform shoppers about how to detect and prevent breast cancer.

Starting this weekend, the first of 12 shopping centers will play host to a special breast cancer booth, where experts will discuss the disease with passersby and provide medical literature.

The booth will travel from center to center through September.

“We were looking for a place to set up an exhibit that would raise awareness,” said Sueanne Pacini, spokeswoman for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which is sponsoring the booth.

“You think, ‘Where do people go? To the mall.’ ”

Organizers hope the informal atmosphere will provide shoppers with a relaxed environment for discussing breast cancer, which for some women is an uncomfortable subject, Pacini said.

“We hope this situation will break through the fear out there,” she said. “We hope to reach them here.”

Though no medical tests will be offered, experts at the booth will provide general information about the disease and offer women advice on finding doctors and getting mammograms.

“Shower cards” that show how to conduct a breast self-examination will be provided free, as will other pamphlets about the disease.

The booth will be at MainPlace/Santa Ana, Friday through Sunday; Huntington Center in Huntington Beach, Aug. 7-8; Westminster Mall, Aug. 13-15; Mission Viejo Mall and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Aug. 20-22; Laguna Hills Mall, Aug. 27-29; the Mall of Orange, Aug. 28-29; and Fashion Island in Newport Beach, Sept. 3-5.

The Komen Breast Cancer Foundation provides free mammograms and other cancer-prevention services.

The group also funds educational programs about the disease.