On Oct. 29, the Jewish Community Center’s Sharsheret Supports program will cap a month of breast cancer awareness with a group exercise “marathon” and community-building event.

Sharsheret, a program that assists Jewish women (and men) and their families facing breast cancer or ovarian cancer, welcomes participants to learn more about the group’s mission and ways it offers support and education. Sharsheret works to build awareness that breast and ovarian cancer is a hereditary concern for Jewish women and men.

According to the CDC, one in 40 Ashkenazi Jews carry the BRCA gene mutation, nearly 10 times the rate of the general population. The gene mutation raises a person’s risk for getting breast and ovarian cancer. Men can also carry and pass these gene mutations on to their family, and also have increased cancer risks.

Sharsheret and the J’s fitness staff will hold a morning of awareness and fitness at the J’s Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur. The event will feature extreme conditioning classes at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., a yoga class at 9 a.m., and Rock-in’ Pink Zumba classes at 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Guests may come for one or all of the group exercise classes. They can register to win raffle prizes, sample healthy juices from the I Love Juice Bar, learn about Sharsheret and help support those in our community who are facing cancer or who are at risk. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information about the event or about Sharsheret Supports, call Debbi Braunstein, 314-442-3266.