Viddler

MRS. OBAMA: Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome. I am so thrilled you could join us today as we mark National Breast Cancer Awareness Month right here at the White House.

And I want to thank Jill so much for that kind introduction, as well as her phenomenal work that she's done to educate young women about this disease.

I think Jill is one of those examples of how one passionate advocate can really make a difference, and we are grateful to you for your leadership and the successes that you've had in your work. And most of all, I am grateful to you for your friendship, as always.

I also want to thank Tina Tchen, who many of you already know for her outstanding work as Director of the Office of Public Engagement. Tina, thank you so much. And I want to take a moment -- yes, let's give Tina -- (applause.) I don't want to step on your applause, Tina.

And I also want to take a moment to recognize all of the survivors and the advocates who are here today who have worked so hard and for so long to raise money and raise awareness to fight this disease, particularly Vernal, Joni, and Venus, for having the courage to share their stories with us today. I mean, it's hard getting up and speaking about good news, right, let alone to talk about something that is so personal to a crowd of strangers and a whole lot of cameras. (Laughter.)

So -- but it's important for them and for us to remind them that it's sharing these stories that really makes a difference. It takes the veil off of this disease, because it wasn't that long ago that people thought that breast cancer was something to be ashamed of and to keep it a secret; something that you didn't discuss in polite company. Some people even wondered, if you can believe it or not, whether breast cancer was contagious. And at the first fundraising lunch hosted by the Komen Foundation, the description of the event was written in one paper as a "women's cancer event," because the word