Albina Zorina’s (artzorina.com) mother, Vera, born in 1953 in Russia, had breast cancer at the age of 51, sixteen years ago. “Breast cancer affected my mother, but the whole family is still recovering from the drama we all went through. My mother had an operation which completely removed one of her breasts, and she had six chemotherapies.” In honor of October Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Albina has launched a fundraiser on the next generation fundraising platform, Fund Duel, a gamified, fun, and engaging platform, bringing over $100,000 to many campaigns www.fundduel.com.
The campaign will include the auction for the exclusive Angelina Jolie painting, giveaways of personalized paintings of your loved ones, and prizes, all to support The Tutu Project in NJ, helping breast cancer patients with support www.thetutuproject.com. Join us for a little fun competition and help others! Find out details on the Fund Duel website.
Albina, how excited are you for this campaign?
I am very excited about this campaign to raise money towards Hers Breast cancer. In fact, it’s my first fundraiser, and I hope we will do well.
Why is helping The Tutu Project so important to you?
The chance that a woman will die from breast cancer is about 2.6%, or a 1 in 38 chance. It is important to be aware before it happens. I don’t have to be a Celebrity to donate something for breast cancer fundraising. I am doing this from my heart, even though I am a famous artist.
Why did you choose Angelina Jolie for your painting to auction?
Angelina had a long family history of breast cancer and tested positive for the BRCA 1 gene, which resulted in her opting to have a double mastectomy in her thirties, despite not having any symptoms. She reduced her chances of developing breast cancer from 87% to 5%, and she holds no regrets about her decision. She is a strong role model for women who have undergone the same procedure and an advocate for preventative medicine.
It’s an honor to paint someone like her!
Linda Hansen, Ph.D., CEO of Fund Duel
Linda, tell us about the power of Fund Duel, gamified fundraising platform.
The power of Fund Duel is team-based competition and video/photo-based challenges that are shared on social media. The magic of Fund Duel is the chain-reaction sharing that causes a campaign to virtually explode. Most of the campaigns on Fund Duel expand across the globe and potentially reach hundreds of thousands if not millions of participants. Fund Duel mobilizes the masses to act, donate and share.
How excited are you for this particular Breast Cancer Support campaign?
My daughter Heather Choate was 29 years old and pregnant when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. We were devastated that the doctors recommended an abortion. Today our granddaughter is 6 years old, and our daughter is in remission. We are blessed, but breast cancer takes so many lives. We are passionate about raising awareness and funds for great organizations that assist women with breast cancer.
What are the key ingredients for a successful campaign?
Success comes when organizations follow our advice and obtain great team captains, corporate and media partners, include fun prizes, they have a catchy challenge, and have a community of people that care about the cause. We just had a small organization in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that raised over $300,000 because she did all these things. We love helping. Please reach out to us at www.fundduel.com/start or email me Dr. Linda Hansen linda@fundduel.com, and we will help.
Linda and Bob Carey Founder of The Tutu Project.
How has the pandemic impacted your efforts?
Although 2020 was a challenging year, people were generous with their donations. We released an immediate 15K when the stay at home was enforced; so many patients were unable to work because of a compromised immune system. We continued to offer grants throughout the year. The need was high, and I know that all nonprofits had difficulty managing the increase in applications. This year has been a little slower, but we launched our annual fundraiser, Dare@Tutu. It runs for two months and is a great way for individuals and businesses to have a little fun in a tutu and raise money for those in need.
Why is it so important for people to be involved in the fundraiser as a Team Captain? Where will the money go?
To have someone organizing and encouraging a team can increase the amount of money raised, so a Team Captain is an integral part of the fundraiser. The money will help breast cancer patients with groceries, transportation to chemotherapy, and doctor appointments and will help pay utility bills.
 mother, Vera, born in 1953 in Russia, had breast cancer at the age of 51, sixteen years ago. “Breast cancer affected my mother, but the whole family is still recovering from the drama we all went through.){kind=link}