The San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure is participating in a nationwide campaign to challenge the U.S. to close the gaps in breast cancer care and survival. On Jan. 11, the San Francisco Affiliate partnered with elected officials to bathe City Hall in pink lights, highlighting the urgent need to address disparities in breast cancer early detection and treatment. Supervisors Mark Leno and Fiona Ma joined with state Senator Carole Migden to advocate the cause and light up City Hall.

Each year in California, more than 19,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 4,000 die from the disease. On Jan. 17 and 18, hundreds of representatives from Komen Affiliates throughout the state will descend on the State Capitol in Sacramento to challenge decision makers to “close the gaps” in policy and funding so that more women in California will have access to quality care and information about breast health and cancer. In preparation for the trip to Sacramento, the San Francisco Affiliate worked with the City of San Francisco to light City Hall in pink as a symbolic — and highly visible — connection between our policymakers and the breast cancer movement.

For more information about the Komen Community Challenge, please visit www.komensf.org.

Here’s a few photos from our recent trip to Yosemite Valley where we spent a three-day mini-vacation over the weekend of October 13, 2007. Although the waterfalls weren’t running very much at this time of year, the Valley was still as picturesque as ever. We hiked up to the top of Nevada Falls for a great view, bicycled to Mirror Lake for an up-close look at Half Dome, walked among the amazing autumn colors of El Cap Meadow, experienced a spectacular sunset at Glacier Point, and had a gourmet meal at the incredible Ahwahnee Hotel. It was an all around good time, you’ve just got to love Yosemite! It just never seems to get old, no matter how many times we’ve previously been.