Local Resident Spreads Breast Cancer Awareness

With $2 in his pocket and hopeful aspirations, Rafi Munim created Mission Green Light on Sept. 12, 2002. 

Munim started Project Greenlight, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising breast cancer awareness, after spending years battling his own health struggles with Ankylosing Spondylitis — a form of arthritis Munim has experienced since age 11 — at the Glenview Terrace Nursing Center. Munim's grandmother, who died of breast cancer, also served as inspiration, he added.

Today, his agency provides information and free screening opportunities to disadvantaged women for invasive breast cancer, which the American Cancer Society estimates at more than 200,000 cases per year.

The organization's mission and name are rooted in Munim's strong belief in God, he explained.

"I spent nights praying to God to give me purpose in life," he said. "It was my faith in God and the constant encouragement and moral support from my elderly friends in the nursing home that kept me going. God gave me the 'Green Light'."

Initially, Mission Green Light targeted African-American women as their mortality rate from breast cancer is the highest among all ethnic groups, Munim explained. When Mission Green Light first got off the ground, Munim approached 40 churches, 30 of which were African American. Ultimately, the organization's efforts were reframed to assist uninsured and underprivileged women in the Hispanic community after an overwhelming response from Hispanic churches throughout the area.

As part of the organization's work, Mission Green Light promotes the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (IBCCP). The program, which receives federal and state funding, provides free breast and cervical cancer screenings and treatments to uninsured women ages 35-64.

Munim's nonprofit has also developed a free Breast Health Education Initiative (BHEI) that strives to empower women to take an active role in their health care. BHEI organizes free breast cancer clinics that provide clinical breast examinations and show women how to conduct proper monthly self-examination.

Most recently, Munim has begun working to extend Mission Green Light's services which will soon include free preventative heart screenings, including blood pressure, complete lipids profile and when required, an EKG read by a cardiologist. Heart screenings, on average, cost the organization about $20, Munim explained. "It could save someone's life."

To recognize National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, the organization will offer a belly dancing class in conjunction with the Mexican Consulate in Chicago.  

"Knowing that regular exercise reduces the risk of breast cancer by 20 percent in women of all ages we wanted to promote being active and healthy," he said.

Munim remains optimistic about the future of the organization and would ultimately like to take his organization to South America, bringing a mobile clinic along with doctors and nurses to underprivileged communities. Mission Green Light is supported by donors and volunteers and has been recognized in the Glenview community and beyond. Munim was even named Glenview's Hometown Hero during a Hometown Voices Tour sponsored by WGN radio in Dec. 2007.

"My job is to wish happiness to people and to plant the seeds of hopes and dreams, wherever and whenever I can," he said. "I do my job with devotion. I plant the seeds and move forward with the hope that a tender stem will sprout from these seeds."

Editor's Note: October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For more information on screenings, volunteer opportunities and events in the community, please visit: www.nbcam.org.  To get involved with Mission Green Light, check out www.missiongreenlight.org or email missiongreenlight@gmail.com.