About BeSunSensible
BeSunSensible Activities and Programs
Who we are

BeSunSensible's mission is to prevent melanoma through educational initiatives targeted at parents and caregivers of young children.

BeSunSensible packages existing information in innovative ways to educate parents and caregivers on:

• The disease of skin cancer/melanoma
• The dangers of sun exposure
• The lifelong need for comprehensive sun protection.

BeSunSensible is changing the sun-related attitudes and behaviors of adults and helping a new generation of children to be sun sensible right from the start.

About BeSunSensible
BeSunSensible is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization established in April 2000 as The Sabra Dalby Rightmire Foundation for Melanoma Education and Research by the friends and family of Sabra Dalby Rightmire, an exceptional woman who died at the age of 27 after a ten-month battle with melanoma, the lethal form of skin cancer.

BeSunSensible is Sabra's legacy. After being diagnosed with metastatic melanoma on July 30, 1998 at the age of 27, Sabra became a tireless disseminator of information on melanoma. She was an active participant on Mel-L, an e-mail discussion and support group for melanoma patients and their caregivers. Sabra was so committed to educating people about melanoma that she postered her local business district with a fact sheet she created the day before entering the hospital for a surgical procedure to remove a brain tumor. Her effort coincided with the American Academy of Dermatology's Melanoma Monday, an annual awareness event that takes place the first Monday of each May.

After Sabra's surgery, doctors discovered that her disease had spread. Though Sabra was to spend her last six weeks in the hospital, she continued to reach out to others. In April, 1999, Sabra established the The Sabra Dalby Rightmire Metastatic Melanoma Education and Research Fund at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (Fund #6785) to further cutting-edge medical research at MSKCC for the treatment of melanoma. Sabra's memorial fund remains at MSKCC. BeSunSensible operates independently of that fund.

Throughout her illness, Sabra discussed her vision for an organization dedicated to melanoma prevention education. BeSunSensible: The Sabra Dalby Rightmire Foundation for Melanoma Education and Research represents that vision. By engaging in assertive behaviors to teach others about skin cancer and the life-threatening effects of sun exposure, BeSunSensible educates people who do not recognize they are at risk of the disease.

Sabra Dalby Rightmire died on June 9, 1999. On June 15, 1999, SabraDalbyRightmire.org was created to honor her.

BeSunSensible Activities and Programs
www.BeSunSensible.org
BeSunSensible and The Saturday Club of Wayne, PA
BeSunSensible FunFair and Silent Auction
Direct Mail Campaign
Inspire Study

www.BeSunSensible.org
On May 1, 2000, www.BeSunSensible.org was launched with technology partner iframe, the New York-based web solutions firm. The site's launch occurred in conjunction with the beginning of The American Academy of Dermatology's National Skin Cancer Awareness Month and Melanoma Monday.

To drive traffic to the website, BeSunSensible partnered with Microsoft's online advertising cooperative bCentral and mounted an online banner campaign. Using donated banner advertising space during May, June and July 2000, BeSunSensible reached out to individuals who might not have been actively seeking information about melanoma/ skin cancer, its prevention, and the importance of early detection. One banner, called "Know Your Dots," contained the words ".com", " .org", ".gov," and ".dot." followed by an enlarged picture of a melanoma "dot." The other banner contained an animated version of the Foundation's logo flashing across the ad space. These 1" x 3" banners appeared randomly on internet sites around the world to drive traffic to the website. By clicking on the banner, viewers arrived at www.BeSunSensible.org.

The website www.BeSunSensible.org received a Gold Triangle Award from The American Academy of Dermatology in April 2001 in recognition of its efforts to promote public awareness of skin cancer/melanoma and its prevention.

BeSunSensible and The Saturday Club of Wayne, PA
In March 2001, BeSunSensible received the largest grant ever awarded by The Saturday Club of Wayne, PA, a philanthropic organization dedicated to enhancing the well-being of women and children on Philadelphia's Main Line. The grant funded a conference for 25 pre-school directors on skin cancer/melanoma prevention during the 2001 - 2002 school year as well as educational programs at each of the participating preschools. After the program is completed, BeSunSensible and The Saturday Club of Wayne will have reached at least 4,000 children and their families with a life-saving message of melanoma/skin cancer prevention through comprehensive sun protection.

BeSunSensible FunFair and Silent Auction
BeSunSensible hosted Philadelphia's first city-wide, family-centered event for skin cancer/melanoma awareness on Sunday, May 6, 2001 at The Wellness Community of Philadelphia in West Fairmount Park.

Invitations for the BeSunSensible FunFair and Silent Auction reached nearly 3,500 families in greater Philadelphia. Attendees received information about skin cancer/melanoma, the need for comprehensive sun protection, and the lifesaving significance of annual dermatological visits as well as sun protection products from companies like Schering Plough/Coppertone, Neutrogena, Mustela, L'Oreal, Person-Covey, Chattem/Bullfrog, SunSolutions, and SunSafe.

Corporate sponsors of the event included Subaru of America, Protarga, BeHome, Hen-Feathers, Schering-Plough Sun Care Products, Brandywine Motors, Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen, LLP, Goulston & Storrs, PC, and The Susquehanna Foundation.

Licensed dermatologists performed free skin cancer screenings and distributed educational materials to all FunFair participants.

On April 15, 2002 BeSunSensible received its second Gold Triangle Award from the American Academy of Dermatology when The 2001 BeSunSensible FunFair and Silent Auction was recognized as an outstanding special event for the community.

Direct Mail Campaign
In January 2001, BeSunSensible received a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to fund a national direct mail campaign. The purpose of the mail campaign is to announce the formation of BeSunSensible, solicit contributions to the organization, and provide information to recipients on the disease of melanoma, the dangers of sun exposure, and the lifelong need for comprehensive sun protection. BeSunSensible will use the proceeds from the direct mail campaign to develop its educational mission and carry out additional fundraising activities.

Inspire Study
BeSunSensible is working with a team of management consultants from Inspire, a non-profit consulting organization made up of professionals from worldwide strategic consulting firms Monitor Company and Bain and Company. The Inspire study uses marketing segmentation models to test and develop messages that will be effective in promoting sun protection attitudes and behaviors among adults and caregivers of young children. Results of the study are due in May, 2000.

Who we are
The list of advisors who are committed to the organization and its mission include:

• Allan Halpern, MD, is Chief of Dermatology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a nationally recognized expert in the early detection and identification of pre-cancerous skin changes that can lead to the development of melanoma.
• Paul Chapman, MD, is an immunologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center whose research focuses on the development of vaccines to prevent melanoma recurrence in individuals who have already been treated for melanoma.
• Avice Meehan is the Vice President of Public Affairs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
• Janet Atkins is the Executive Director of Goulston & Storrs Philanthropic Advisors, an innovative new practice for Boston-based law firm Goulston & Storrs, PC, as well as a nationally recognized authority on all aspects of developing and managing philanthropy.
• Beverly Berkin CHES, FASHA, is a Certified Health Education Specialist and an award-winning educational consultant on sun safety and skin cancer prevention. She is the American School Health Association's representative to numerous national organizations for skin cancer prevention and education.
• Rochelle Weiss MD, is the Chair of Dermatology at Bryn Mawr Medical Specialists in Bryn Mawr, PA.
• Ali Partovi is former Vice President of Development for TellMe.com, the wireless network solutions company in Mountain View, CA. Ali is also co-founder of LinkExchange, an internet marketing firm acquired by Microsoft.

The four founding members of BeSunSensible are:

• Jill Dalby Ellison, PhD, Director. Jill is a 1987 graduate of Wellesley College and former casewriter and Research Associate at Harvard Business School. Jill earned an MA in Psychology in 1995 and a PhD in Organizational Behavior in 1998 from Harvard University.
• Eric P. Rightmire, MD. is a 1994 graduate of Harvard College and a 1999 graduate of The Medical School at SUNY- Stony Brook. He is currently a Resident in Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
• Brian K. Dalby, Treasurer. A graduate of Babson College, Brian is President of Dalby Corporation, a Detroit-based general contracting firm that engages in residential real estate development and construction. The Dalby Corporation also acts as commercial general contractor and construction manager.
• Emily Davidow, Secretary. A 1993 graduate of Wellesley College, Emily is the founder of BeHOME and Digital Elements. She is also the editor of Furnishing the Digital Era.