In September many celebrated Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month (GCAM) with speaking engagements and health fairs. This year as part of GCAM, Christine Baze, cervical cancer survivor and lead singer of the Skills of Ortega, organized The Yellow Umbrella Tour to promote the importance of cervical cancer screening and education. At the Yellow Umbrella Tour, a series of benefit concerts, sponsored by popsmear.org and supported by Cytyc Corporation, the Skills of Ortega performed in several U.S. cities, which included Boston, Mass., and four cities in California: Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, San Diego and San Francisco.

Each concert provided a venue to raise awareness about cervical cancer. Two of these concerts showcased SGO/GCF members Drs. Beth Garner and Andy Li who addressed concertgoers about cervical cancer facts and the importance of annual cervical cancer screening. In addition to increasing public awareness, the five concerts also raised money for three organizations dedicated to cervical cancer awareness and education programs: the American Cancer Society, the National Cervical Cancer Coalition and the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation. Planning for a 2004 concert series is already in progress.

	Lead singer of the Skills of Ortega, Christine Baze, the founder of popsmear.org, performs during the Yellow Umbrella Tour. (Photo by Matt Pearson)
	Elizabeth I. O. Garner, MD, PhD speaks to concertgoers during a stop on the Yellow Umbrella Tour in Massachusetts. (Photo by Matt Pearson)

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