One Stop Cancer Shop, an event offering free cancer screenings to members of the North Omaha community, served 50 people on Sept. 12, providing a variety of services, including 17 mammograms, and other health checks.
The annual event is a collaboration between North Omaha community and faith leaders, Nebraska Medicine, the UNMC College of Nursing and the National Cancer Institute-designated Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
Cancer center director Joann Sweasy, PhD, was at the event and spoke about the importance of the collaboration, which began in 2024.
“Each group has different expertise, as well as different connections within the community,” Dr. Sweasy said. “We’re all mission driven, and it’s the same mission — to decrease the cancer burden in the state. This is one way to do it: to screen people.”
Rev. Karen Saunders, one of the event organizers, also praised the partnership.
“The event is bringing the medical (expertise) into the community and creating a relationship with the community members,” she said.
Often times, Rev. Saunders explained, navigating a large institution like Nebraska Medicine and the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center can be complex.
“People don’t know where to go, how to go or who to contact,” she said. “By bringing it into the community, this gives them their first introduction, and they’re able to work with people.”
Among the first people community members met as they arrived at the event were UNMC College of Nursing students, who traditionally turn out in force to volunteer at One Stop Cancer Shop.
As the event began, Addyson Connolly, Morgan Brady and Grace Kelley, second-year nursing students at the UNMC College of Nursing in Omaha, were stationed by a large, inflatable colon that had been positioned outside the church. The trio greeted people as they arrived.
It was the first year volunteering at the event for all three.
“It’s a good opportunity to help out the community,” Brady said.
At this stage in their education, Kelley added, it’s important to embrace opportunities to work with people.
“We want to continue to build on these experiences, so that we’re prepared for when we do get out into the healthcare field and meet with patients,” she said. “It’s just nice to have this kind of experience under our belt.”
Amber Golden, DNP, assistant professor at the UNMC College of Nursing, says she incorporates events such as this into her class on population health.
“Nursing is way more than just taking care of patients in the hospital,” Dr. Golden said. “It is really beneficial for students to be out in the community, seeing people’s lives outside of the hospital, and understanding the importance of things such as cancer screenings — just to know all the resources that are available even outside of the hospital.”
Connolly said it was exciting to see public health “in action” at the event.
“Seeing how bringing health education and resources to our community can make them more accessible for everyone showed us, as future nurses, that prevention and education are just as important as treatment,” she said.