Casting for Recovery: Goal for September retreat for MN/WI women recovering from breast cancer: Change lives!

Women recovering from breast cancer will experience the life-changing benefits that come from a unique program combining counseling, medical information, and fly-fishing at the second Minnesota/Wisconsin Casting for Recovery retreat taking place from Sept. 10-12 at the Lodge at Crooked Lake in N. Siren, WI.

Casting for Recovery, a national non-profit organization founded in 1996, and the Minneapolis office of The Hartford, a major life insurance company, are offering MN/WI women at any age and any stage of treatment and recovery from breast cancer an opportunity to experience a program that can help them heal, both physically and emotionally.

Open to 14 area women and held at the Lodge at Crooked Lake in N. Siren, WI, the Casting for Recovery retreat calls on the services of trained volunteers, including medical and counseling professionals, to build a focus on wellness instead of illness, on empowerment as opposed to helplessness.

Kim Rasmussen, The Hartford’s local volunteer coordinator for the retreat, says that the dynamics of fly-fishing provide a healing connection to the natural world, relieve stress, and promote a sense of calm. She also explains that techniques learned in fly-casting provide a gentle exercise, similar to the exercises physicians recommend after radiation and surgery, which promote joint and soft tissue mobility.

Kim notes, “Participants call Casting for Recovery life-changing because the experience helps them take the next step in recovery by addressing issues faced while moving forward from treatment, through the sharing of experiences and the joy that comes from mastering new skills in a supportive and safe setting. The Hartford is proud to support this program as part of our abilities philosophy, which focuses on an individual’s abilities, not perceived limitations, and is expressed through philanthropic activities like this.”

The Hartford, Casting for Recovery’s lead national and local sponsor, was the first insurer in the nation to offer life insurance at standard rates to qualified women age 40 and older who had been treated for early-stage breast cancer. For more information on The Hartford’s work with Casting for Recovery and other cancer research and recovery organizations, visit http://www.thehartford.com/winningspirit.

About Casting for Recovery

Casting for Recovery retreats incorporate counseling, educational services and fly fishing to promote physical and mental healing. Casting for Recovery provides an opportunity for women whose lives have been profoundly affected by breast cancer to gather in a beautiful, natural setting and learn that “To Fish is to Hope.” Since 1996 CFR has served over 5,000 breast cancer survivors, with the help of 1,500 volunteers, in retreats that provide emotional and medical support and teach new skills through catch-and-release fly fishing. In 2010, 42 retreats are scheduled in 30 states, serving women across the U.S.

Casting for Recovery retreat programs are offered at no cost to the participants. Numerous medical and psychosocial professionals and institutions consider Casting for Recovery one of the leading programs providing support for women with breast cancer. Retreats are also held in Canada and the United Kingdom through sister organizations, Casting for Recovery-Canada and Casting for Recovery-UK/Ireland.

Casting for Recovery is supported by generous donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. Our leading national sponsor is The Hartford (http://www.thehartford.com), one of the largest insurance and investment companies in the nation, which will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2010; and we are also supported by Brookdale Senior Living – West Division (http://www.brookdaleliving.com), whose mission of enriching the lives of those they serve with compassion, respect, excellence, and integrity is the source of their strong support for CFR; and Under Armour® (http://www.underarmour.com), a leading developer, marketer, and distributor of branded performance apparel, footwear, and accessories, whose “Power In Pink” program is an effort to help educate women about the important link between physical activity and winning the battle against breast cancer.

Casting for Recovery is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. For more information about the Casting for Recovery program, please call: 802-362-9181 or visit http://www.castingforrecovery.org.