Sharsheret

Sharsheret is a United States nonprofit organization focused on the personal, medical, emotional, and communal needs of people affected by breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Its name comes from the Hebrew word for “chain,” reflecting the organization’s emphasis on connection among patients, survivors, families, health professionals, and community institutions. The organization was founded in November 2001 by Rochelle Lee Shoretz, a young attorney and mother who had been diagnosed with breast cancer earlier that year. Shoretz had studied at Columbia Law School and completed a Supreme Court clerkship with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her own treatment experience led her to seek support from someone who shared her age, family circumstances, Jewish background, and experience with breast cancer. That search helped shape Sharsheret’s model of individualized, culturally informed peer support. The organization primarily serves young Jewish women diagnosed with breast cancer or ovarian cancer, as well as people with a genetic predisposition to these diseases and their relatives. Its work is informed by the elevated prevalence of certain BRCA1 and BRCA2 variants among Ashkenazi Jewish people. Sharsheret also serves men, non-Jewish patients, caregivers, and people from other backgrounds. Its approach treats cancer as an experience affecting an entire life rather than solely as a disease, and it seeks to tailor assistance to family structure, age, cultural identity, reproductive concerns, treatment circumstances, and genetic-risk questions. Sharsheret’s services include peer-to-peer connections, professional counseling and guidance, healthcare information, financial assistance, educational programming, genetic-risk education, and community outreach. It operates national support and education programs and has developed resources for patients, survivors, caregivers, relatives, students, and healthcare providers. The organization also conducts webinars and public meetings addressing subjects such as genetic testing and cancer risk. Its On Campus division and On Campus Leadership Training program engage high-school and college students, helping them learn about breast-cancer awareness, hereditary risk, and ways to support affected communities. Community programming is a major part of Sharsheret’s public identity. Initiatives such as Pink Day, Pink Shabbats, and Pink Challah Bakes use Jewish communal, educational, and campus settings to promote awareness and solidarity. Sharsheret has worked with Hillel, Chabad, Alpha Epsilon Phi, and other local and national partners. Alpha Epsilon Phi selected the organization as one of its national philanthropies in 2008. Corporate and institutional relationships have included Pfizer, Moishe House, and 23andMe, according to reference material. The organization has expanded beyond a narrowly defined patient population while retaining its distinctive focus on young people, Jewish families, and hereditary cancer concerns. Reference material reports that Sharsheret had responded to more than 55,000 breast-cancer inquiries, engaged more than 5,300 peer supporters, and presented more than 250 educational programs annually. It also reports activity on approximately 250 American campuses. In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded Sharsheret a five-year cooperative agreement valued at $1.8 million for its LINK Program—Outreach and Education Initiative, aimed at women under 45 and intended to extend education and services through a nationwide partner network. Sharsheret remains an active nonprofit with offices in California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York.

Sharsheret was established in November 2001 by Rochelle Lee Shoretz, a 28-year-old attorney and mother who had been diagnosed with breast cancer four months earlier. Shoretz’s professional background included Columbia Law School and a clerkship with United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her diagnosis exposed a gap in support for younger Jewish women facing cancer. During treatment, she wanted to speak with someone who shared her age, family responsibilities, cultural identity, and experience of breast cancer. After eventually finding Lauryn Weiser, Shoretz developed the idea of a structured organization that could create similarly tailored connections for others. The organization’s founding was assisted by the Joshua Venture fellowship, a program that supplied selected social entrepreneurs with funding, mentoring, and development support over two years. Sharsheret adopted a model centered on individualized support rather than a uniform patient pathway. The organization’s work addresses the medical and emotional consequences of breast and ovarian cancer while also considering family life, cultural practice, reproductive concerns, inherited risk, and the needs of caregivers. Sharsheret’s principal constituency has been young Jewish women and Jewish families. This focus is connected in part to the comparatively high prevalence of certain BRCA mutations among people of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. The organization provides information about genetic testing and hereditary cancer risk, but its services are not restricted to Jewish patients or to women. Men, people from other backgrounds, relatives, and caregivers may also use its resources. Over time, Sharsheret expanded its programming from direct peer connections into a broader national support and education network. Its services include healthcare information, financial assistance, professional guidance, peer support, webinars, and public educational events. The organization also created an On Campus division and an On Campus Leadership Training program to involve secondary-school and college students in cancer education and awareness. Reference material describes a presence on approximately 250 American campuses and more than 250 educational programs annually. Community-based initiatives became an important part of the organization’s outreach. In 2010, Sharsheret introduced Pink Day as an annual breast-cancer awareness and solidarity activity. Schools, Hillel organizations, Chabad groups, Alpha Epsilon Phi chapters, and other Jewish student organizations have used Pink Day, Pink Shabbats, Pink Challah Bakes, and related events to discuss cancer risk and support survivors. In 2008, Alpha Epsilon Phi selected Sharsheret as one of its national philanthropies, helping connect the organization to a major collegiate Jewish community network. Sharsheret has also developed relationships with healthcare, consumer, corporate, and communal partners, including Pfizer, Moishe House, and 23andMe as identified in reference material. In 2015, founder Rochelle Lee Shoretz died at age 42. Her death marked the loss of the organization’s founder but did not end its work. By 2019, Sharsheret was led by Executive Director Elana Silber and had reported responding to more than 55,000 breast-cancer inquiries and engaging more than 5,300 peer supporters. A significant later development was a five-year, $1.8 million cooperative agreement awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2019. The agreement supported the LINK Program—Outreach and Education Initiative, which focused on women under 45 diagnosed with breast cancer and sought to extend educational programming and services through more than 100 local partners. Sharsheret’s offices are reported in California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, with headquarters in Teaneck, New Jersey. Its continuing role is that of a national cancer-support nonprofit combining specialized cultural knowledge with broadly accessible patient, family, and community services.

• 2019

  CDC supports the LINK Program

  [1]Sharsheret (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  The CDC awards Sharsheret a five-year cooperative agreement valued at $1.8 million for outreach and education aimed at women under 45 affected by breast cancer.

• 2018

  Pink Day reaches more than 100 schools

  [1]Sharsheret (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Reference material reports participation by more than 100 schools using Sharsheret’s Pink Day toolkits.

• 2015

  Founder Rochelle Lee Shoretz dies

  [1]Sharsheret (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Shoretz dies at age 42 after founding and developing the organization around the needs of young Jewish women with cancer.

• 2010

  Pink Day is created

  [1]Sharsheret (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Sharsheret launches Pink Day as a breast-cancer awareness and survivor-support activity used by schools and Jewish campus organizations.

• 2008

  Alpha Epsilon Phi selects Sharsheret as a national philanthropy

  [1]Sharsheret (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  The sorority Alpha Epsilon Phi names Sharsheret as one of its national philanthropic organizations.

• 2001

  Sharsheret is founded

  [1]Sharsheret (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Rochelle Lee Shoretz establishes Sharsheret in November after her own breast-cancer diagnosis and search for age- and culture-specific peer support.

A culturally responsive cancer-support nonprofit connecting patients, survivors, families, professionals, and Jewish communities through individualized support, education, financial resources, and hereditary-cancer awareness.

• Support service · 2001

  Peer Support Programs

  Sharsheret connects people affected by breast or ovarian cancer with appropriately matched peer supporters and related professional resources. The model emphasizes individualized relationships that can account for age, family circumstances, Jewish identity, treatment experience, and hereditary-risk concerns.

• Cancer education and outreach · 2019

  LINK Program—Outreach and Education Initiative

  The LINK Program is an outreach and education initiative focused on women under 45 diagnosed with breast cancer. Supported by a CDC cooperative agreement announced in 2019, it works through a broad network of local partners to extend information, services, and educational programming to patients and caregivers.

• Campus education

  On Campus

  Sharsheret’s On Campus division brings breast-cancer and hereditary-risk education to high-school and college communities. It provides programming resources and opportunities for students to organize awareness activities, support affected peers, and connect Jewish communal life with cancer education.

• Awareness campaign · 2010

  Pink Day

  Pink Day is an annual awareness initiative created in 2010. Participants wear pink and organize educational and solidarity events, including Pink Shabbats, Pink Challah Bakes, campus tables, and discussions about breast-cancer support and hereditary risk.

• 2010Pink Day

  United States

  Sharsheret created Pink Day to encourage breast-cancer awareness and public support for survivors. The initiative is particularly visible in schools, Jewish student organizations, Hillel communities, Chabad groups, and Alpha Epsilon Phi chapters.

  Outcome. Reference material reports that more than 100 schools participated in 2018 using Sharsheret-provided toolkits.

  Source
• Pink Shabbats and Pink Challah Bakes

  United States

  These community-oriented activities adapt breast-cancer awareness to Jewish communal and ritual settings, combining education, visible support for survivors, and fundraising or engagement opportunities.

  Source

• 2019

  Expand outreach through the LINK ProgramStrategy

  Background

  Younger women with breast cancer can face distinctive medical, family, reproductive, and financial challenges, and Sharsheret sought to broaden access to specialized education and services.

  Action taken

  Sharsheret undertook the LINK Program—Outreach and Education Initiative with support from a five-year CDC cooperative agreement.

  Aftermath

  The initiative was intended to work with more than 100 local partners and reach patients and caregivers nationwide.

  Cooperative agreement value. $1.8 million (Five-year agreement announced in 2019)

  Source

• 2010

  Launch Pink DayOther

  Background

  Sharsheret sought to expand breast-cancer awareness beyond direct patient services and into schools, campuses, and Jewish community institutions.

  Action taken

  The organization introduced Pink Day and associated activities such as Pink Shabbats and Pink Challah Bakes.

  Aftermath

  The campaign became a recurring national awareness platform, with participation reported at more than 100 schools in 2018.

  Source

• 2001

  Adopt an individualized, culturally responsive support modelStrategy

  Background

  Rochelle Lee Shoretz’s experience of seeking a peer who shared her age, family situation, Jewish identity, and cancer experience shaped the organization’s founding approach.

  Action taken

  Sharsheret built its services around tailored peer connections, professional resources, and support for the broader social and family circumstances of cancer.

  Aftermath

  The model became the basis for the organization’s national support, education, and community programs.

  Source

1. 1Sharsheret (organization)en.wikipedia.org
2. 2Sharsheret official websitesharsheret.org