From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

 

Ellen DeGeneres has recorded a series of phone messages that amount to an urgent wake-up call for women: Help yourself fight breast cancer.

The messages, which can be delivered by online request, are intended to nudge women to take steps to check for the disease that is the second-most lethal kind of cancer in women after lung cancers.

"I went into a studio and recorded a million different (versions): `Hi, this is Ellen DeGeneres and your sister told me to remind you that it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month,' `Your teacher told me to call you,' 'Your neighbor told me to call you,' `Your cousin,' `Your mother.'"

DeGeneres, who was asked by vitamin maker One A Day to join the company's campaign that started Thursday, said she finds an anti-breast cancer program to support each year. One A Day also is donating money to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

"My mom, 30 years ago, had a mastectomy. It's changed my life because I'm highly aware I'm vulnerable to this disease and I get a mammogram every year," DeGeneres said.