We have all heard of it. Many women have experienced it. Doctors haven’t found a cure for it. Many are fighting against it. Breast Cancer has been around for a long time; studies have shown that breast cancer has been around as early as 1500 BC.
It seems as though the numbers are increasing each year for the women diagnosed with breast cancer, but over two million women in the past year have fought through it and survived. Each year, there are a number of women who don’t survive breast cancer and then there are those who barely survived. Those women had to deal with many treatments including surgery (loosing a breast), chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, radiation, and immunotherapy. This year, billions of people are donating money to help patients who are diagnosed with breast cancer and others show their support by wearing the color pink!
This year at Pitman High School, students and faculty dressed up for the Breast Cancer Awareness Day which was called “Think Pink Thursday”. Around four hundred people dressed up in pink to show their support and money was donated to the Breast Cancer Association from Pitman’s FFA. Even if you don’t have money to donate, you can always show some support by dressing up in pink and acknowledging that you are a supporter!
Other huge supporters are stores like Payless ShoeSource and Safeway. For the past eight years, the Payless ShoeSource’s “Embrace the Cause” program has raised a little over four million dollars to help support the fight against breast cancer. They recently came up with another idea to help with breast cancer, by donating two dollars for every set of pink earrings they sell. Safeway is also a huge supporter, by wearing pink t-shirts with a pink ribbon symbolizing breast cancer awareness. Safeway has been a supporter for almost a decade and they have raised a total of $94.1 million for breast cancer awareness and research. With their donations, Safeway contributes to cutting-edge trials and programs like the I-SPY Trials. They are intended to treat and evaluate the prognosis for women with advanced breast cancer.
“Cups of Hope” is a website that I recently discovered that donates ten cents for every cup of yogurt you eat. It’s simple! Go to the store, buy your choice of any participating Dannon brand yogurt; enjoy your cup of yogurt and on the bottom of the lid you’ll notice a code. You simply type in the code along with an email address on the “Cups of Hope” website. It literally takes less than a second and it’s a great way to show your support because you donated ten cents to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. Their goal is to raise $1.5 million to fight breast cancer, and they’re already halfway there!
With all these kind and generous people helping and supporting those with breast cancer, I’m certain that one day there will be a cure. There are so many giving organizations and foundations out there helping so many women diagnosed with breast cancer, helping them to survive and live stronger each and everyday. Sometimes all we need to have is faith, hope, and strength!
