October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I'm guessing that most of you know someone who has battled and won or lost the fight against a disease that, even with early detection and advanced treatment, still claims the lives of 250 thousand people in the United States each year. That's 250 thousand PEOPLE as Breast Cancer, doesn't just kill women.

How can you help lower that number? By getting a mammogram if you're a female 35 or older; if you've had ANY relatives with cancer, then you need a mammogram at 30 - men too. If you've had a family member with breast cancer, then you need a mammogram too. The death rate for men is much higher than that with women because too many guys think breast cancer only kills women.

Mammograms and monthly breast exams are the best ways to find questionable lumps. Mammograms are uncomfortable, but breast cancer kills. Three minutes of awkwardness or a lifetime of . . . oh wait, there is little lifetime left if you aren't pro active and eventually your doctor finds a malignant tumor.

Don't be a dumb girl. Or a shy guy. Have a mammogram.

Here's another proactive way to fight the disease. Buy a bottle of Five Rivers Wine. It's delicious, affordable and the labels are graced with Goddesses. The California winery is donating a dollar from every bottle of Five Rivers wines sold in October to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, with local wines sold going to support the St Vincent Breast Cancer program.

Next time you're in Taipei and craving a glass of Easley Winery's sassy Reggae Blush or Oliver Winery's silky sweet Soft Red stop at Allen's Wine and Spirits.

Last May a delegation from Taiwan visited Indiana to learn more about its agricultural products such as meat, grains, and dairy. But the delegation didn't know Indiana had such an array of outstanding wines to offer. The leaders of the group took a special liking to the wines from Easley Winery and Oliver Winery, and the rest is history.

Well not that easy. A conversation this summer with winemaker Mark Easley let me know of the effort and hope his family was putting forth to see this deal done. Mark said once he got the order they worked around the clock to produce new labels for language and extra bottles in addition to their normal output. Plus the shipping meant packing containers and then putting them on a truck that went to a seaport and then to Taiwan. But it's worth the effort as Asia meets Hoosier.