Host your own Pink Ribbon Breakfast.

May is Pink Ribbon Breakfast month

Registrations are now open for Pink Ribbon Breakfast, with Lorraine Downes asking Kiwis to invite their friends or colleagues to breakfast in May, to raise funds for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation.

Proceeds from this year's Pink Ribbon Breakfasts will go towards breast cancer research, including new drug development, research into the genetic factors that contribute to cancer spread, and support for clinical trials that provide access to new and expensive treatments.

"Research is key to improving Kiwi women's survival," said Lorraine Downes, who is an NZBCF ambassador and former Miss Universe. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and underwent successful treatment for the disease. "The advances that saved my mum started with research projects like the ones the NZBCF is funding today. By hosting a Pink Ribbon Breakfast, you'll help save more women down the track."

Last year, supporters held 2400 Pink Ribbon Breakfasts around the country, attended by 65,000 people and raising $1 million," said Van Henderson, chief executive at the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation. "There are exciting research opportunities coming up, and we want NZ women to be among the first to benefit. So, please, host a breakfast - your help will make a real difference."

To host a Pink Ribbon Breakfast, visit pinkribbonbreakfast.co.nz

About breast cancer in New Zealand:
• More than 3000 women a year are diagnosed with breast cancer in NZ - that's 8 women a day
• 90-95% of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease
• Around 370 NZ women in the pre-screening age group of 20-44 will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year - that's one woman a day
• 82% of women will be disease-free five years after diagnosis...but only 73% will be disease-free 10 years after diagnosis
• More than 600 women will die of breast cancer this year - about the size of a large primary school.
• The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation recommends yearly breast screening mammograms for women 40-49 years of age, and every two years from age 50
• The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation's mission is to prevent New Zealanders developing and dying from Breast Cancer and to support those with the disease.