The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and on Oct. 5, Western Missouri Medical Center hosted the 9th Annual Ladies Night Out to educate women about the importance of getting a mammogram. There were over 500 attendees and the event raised $18,735 for the WMMC Foundation.

  In 2012, Strategy and Development Executive Tara Carlyle and the WMMC marketing team started this event and had 15 attendees. Since then, it has become popular among the community of Warrensburg. Last year, while the event was virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 114 mammograms scheduled with over 450 attendees, and this year 82 women signed up for mammograms.

  Carlyle said the event takes a year to plan, but as the years went by, the planning got less stressful. She said it takes a lot of marketing, coordination, volunteers and employees to put this event together. There are usually 20 volunteers to help out with the tables and vendors. 

   “This event is incredibly special to me because I started this event,” Carlyle said. “It all goes back to if we could save one life, if we could encourage more women to get their mammograms and we can continue to save lives. That is the whole purpose of this event.”

  The three-hour event consisted of refreshments, a photo booth, 40 vendors with three salons offering nails, and hair and massage services.

  Toward the end of the event, there were three guest speakers, including Event Emcee Meryl Lin McKean, cancer survivor and UCM’s Assistant Athletic Director for Development Michelle Schubert and Western Missouri Medical Center’s Dr. Amira Ghazali. 

   Schubert shared her journey of how she was able to beat breast cancer. She said early detection saved her life, and she is grateful for going to LNO last year, where she signed up for the mammogram that detected her cancer. 

  “I appreciate Western Missouri Medical Center hosting this event because it is so important for our community and obviously the early detection to save lives and just to get the message out to get the mammograms and take care of our health,” Schubert said. 

  Ghazali’s sentimental speech touched many people in the audience. Ghazali talked about the impact breast cancer has on families and how early detection can give mothers a longer time to live and make lasting memories with loved ones. 

  “We want control of our futures,” Ghazali said. “A mammogram helps us catch it when it’s small, four times smaller than anything you can feel. Ladies Night Out is about raising awareness, raising our voices and raising awareness for early detection.”