Features Reporter
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the U.S., which means bring on the pink ribbons.
Last Saturday, hundreds of breast cancer patients, survivors and their friends and families went to the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens to participate in the 15th annual Breast Cancer 5k Walk 4 Life.
The Junior Service League of Grand Junction (JSL) was the organization behind the scenes of the walk. Founded in 1983 as a non-profit service organization, JSL aims to gather women who are committed to improving the community “through effective volunteerism and fundraising.”
“I think the most important part of the walk is getting everybody together to raise money for a good cause,” event coordinator Megan Sardelli said.
Sardelli got involved with JSL and the Walk 4 Life after a close family friend passed away from breast cancer.
Sponsors and volunteers, including Community Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital, provided food, drinks and even free massages to participants.
“We had a woman who gave us a call a while ago saying that our funds helped to detect her breast cancer, and she was able to get treatment,” Sardelli said. “Now she donates her time to giving out free massages for survivors.”
The fundraising event, which raised over $60,000, is aimed at promoting early detection of breast cancer, awareness, education and support.
Regardless of race or ethnicity, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and the second most common fatal type of cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2008, 210,203 women were diagnosed with breast cancer, with 40,589 women dying from the disease.
“Breast cancer runs in my family,” sophomore Mackenzie Eikamp said. “Out of my grandma’s seven sisters, four are breast cancer survivors. My grandma is constantly checked for it, and whenever she has a lump it’s removed right away so there’s no scare of them ever becoming cancerous.”
Unfortunately, not all women are as lucky. Although mammograms don’t prevent breast cancer, they have the ability to save lives by detecting it as early as possible. According to BreastCancer.org, mammograms have been shown to lower the risk of dying from breast cancer by 35 percent in women over 50.
“It’s scary that it affects so many women, but at least awareness is continuing to be raised,” Eikamp said.
Prevention is the Cure is an organization that is gaining momentum. The group encourages not only breast cancer detection, treatment and education, but also prevention as a rarely acknowledged cure. Not many people are aware that household cleaners and pesticides in fruits and vegetables are very likely causes of breast cancer.
For those who know a patient or survivor of breast cancer, the situation is never easy to deal with. October is a time when women, whether personally affected by it or not, can come together in gaining awareness, fundraising for research and treatments and supporting one another in the struggle.
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