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“Don't overreach. Pick just a few causes that really mean something to you,” advises longtime Washington, DC newscaster Andrea Roane to busy professionals who want to give back to their communities but are extremely time-pressed. “I try to help with the arts, because I was an arts educator; breast cancer awareness, because I am a woman and that fact alone puts me at risk for breast cancer; [and] Buddy Check 9 [a breast cancer prevention program]. And it's OK to say no. You can't do it all. Don't try!”

As someone who just guiltily dropped three volunteer activities that I had done for years, I took comfort in those words from one of our four new winners of ASAE & The Center’s In Honor of Women Awards. Presented Wednesday, November 7, at the JW Marriott in DC, the awards recognize exceptional female professionals who are high-achieving leaders with substantial influence on their surrounding communities.

I wondered how Andrea had narrowed down her many charitable options to focus on breast cancer prevention and learned that it was because of something associations been told repeatedly in our constant quest for volunteers: She was asked. More specifically, she was asked by her former news director to initiate the Buddy Check 9 project 14 years ago. On the ninth of each month (hey, that’s today!), Andrea urges her viewers to team with a friend or family member to do the National Cancer Institute's 3-step breast examination early detection program.

Thousands of people have done so, which has led to some unexpected personal and professional benefits for Andrea. “Professionally, my work through Buddy Check 9 has earned me local and national recognition for reporting and community service,” Andrea says. “Personally, having a woman or man call and tell me that my reporting or a speech I made advocating women take charge of their health saved their life is so gratifying.”

She recommends that other organizations interested in social responsibility and community outreach look to the Buddy Check 9 model as a starting point. “We are modeled after a program at the Gannett-owned sister station in Jacksonville, Florida,” Andrea explains. “It was a much-needed initiative in the DC metro area, because of the high breast cancer mortality rates of minority women. We just started telling survivor stories, profiling physicians and researchers, and updating the latest technological advancements, so it's a never-ending story. Also, I am amazed at the people who still don't know their risk factors and the importance of prevention and early detection in the fight against all cancers. Until everyone hears and understands the message, there will be a need for Buddy Check.”

She urges organizations to “look at the community in which you work--what are the needs of the people [whom] you want to choose your product? Food drives? Toys for Tots? Kidney walks?--and go from there.”