From left to right: Britt Thal, Janice Barlow, Roni Peskin-Mentzer, Fern Orenstein, Francine Halberg, Rochelle Ereman

Fern Orenstein was a founding member of Marin Breast Cancer Watch (which became Zero Breast Cancer in 2006). She retired from the main board at the end of 2015 as term limits finally caught up with her after 20 years! We are grateful that Fern remains a very active and engaged member of the ZBC Scientific Advisory Group. You can read more about this group here.

Fern has embodied the mission and passion of Zero Breast Cancer with every ounce of her soul and every inch of her petite but mighty body. She served in every conceivable capacity and in every volunteer role during her tenure as a Director of the Board, including serving several years as Treasurer and President.

Fern is the ultimate optimist and cheerleader. She is knowledgeable, compassionate and a fierce proponent of the cautionary principle when it comes to exposing oneself to questionable chemicals, cosmetics, cleaning products, food packaging and even some of what pass as ‘food’ items in our modern environment. Her motto:"when in doubt, leave out!" Not satisfied with being a tour de force campaigner against the unacceptably high rates of breast cancer in her community, not satisfied with investing significant efforts into her own health and wellness and facing sometime daunting challenges as a 20–year breast cancer survivor, Fern has made working with breast cancer patients her professional calling, too. She is the Avon Comprehensive Breast Care Program Director at San Francisco General Hospital.

It’s going to be hard to truly honor such a leader but we will give it our best shot. We hope you will join us on May 10, 2016 at Honor Our Healers – A special evening with Zero Breast Cancer. You can learn more about it here. If you cannot attend, please consider a donation in Fern’s honor. We will gladly advise her of your gift, which you can make here.