Growing Each Year: Mount Ayr Breast Cancer Fundraiser Expands Reach and Support
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by Priscilla Alvik
MOUNT AYR, Iowa — Conversations plant seeds for thought, opportunities present themselves, and you are off on an adventure that spans years. This is the prologue of the journey that Cindy Glazebrook and Mitzi Hymbaugh began in 2023.
During my interview with Hymbaugh she went on to explain the initial conversation where Glazebrook shared the news that her 30-year-old granddaughter was diagnosed with breast cancer. Personally, I can relate when your family is hit with the unexpected you want to do something, and that is just what Glazebrook expressed to Hymbaugh three plus years ago. The brainstorming between the two women produced the 1st Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Style Show in 2023.
“If we just have 30 women show up, I would be happy,” Hymbaugh remembers thinking the day of that first show.
That year approximately 70 women were in attendance and a profit was made. Focusing on the 2026 event that was held this past Sunday, an unofficial total of 91 women were in attendance.
The monies raised through a “Good Will Offering” for the luncheon provided, and silent auction go to the “South Central Iowa Breast Cancer Fund” set-up through the Mission Cancer Foundation. The event in 2025 raised $2,000 that was sent to the foundation.
Hymbaugh expressed that she “hopes the event will raise the same or more this year that can be donated.”
Patients (women or men) battling breast cancer who live in Ringgold, Decatur, Taylor and Union counties may apply for up to $500 in annual financial assistance and/or a $50 gas/ride share gift card.
The annual event is a ministry of Mount Ayr First Christian Church in partnership with Snyder’s of Humeston that is held the first Sunday of May every year.
Carla Kirchert and Katie Rogers, who presented their testimonials at the event this year, stressed the importance of annual breast cancer screening. Both women expressed “that they had no prior history of breast cancer in their families.” The diagnosis of the disease turned their lives upside down. Thankfully, they had each other to lean on in addition to a strong network of family and friends.
In 2025, an estimated 316,950 new cases of invasive female breast cancer, and roughly 2,800 cases of breast cancer in men were projected. Estimated mortality is 42,170 female deaths and 510 male deaths according to the National Breast Cancer Coalition projections in 2025. Breast Cancer key trend is an increase of about one percent annually over the past decade. October is National Breast Cancer month. It is not too soon to schedule your annual exam through your primary physician now.
The Breast Cancer Awareness Style Show was a heartfelt, elegant event that brought women of all ages together for an important moment in time. Save the date for May 2, 2027 and then plan to attend.
