|
United by pinkFrom: Zanesville Times Recorder |
ZANESVILLE -- Looking out into a sea of pink, Elaine Fields' heart swelled at the sight of tremendous support for a cause close to her.
To know that the community was rooting for each other and raising awareness for a deadly disease made the upbeat breast cancer survivor smile. She and her Positively Pink survivor support group members from Cambridge and Caldwell were among the hundreds of supporters at Thursday evening's Spirit of Pink. The event at the Ohio University-Zanesville Campus Center was hosted by Spirit of Women to kick off National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
"It's wonderful to see so many people here because almost every family is touched by it," Fields said. "My grandmother had it, but she never talked about it back then. It's nice to talk about it openly today. Here you get the feeling that people care."
The Campus Center was filled almost to capacity with more than 230 attendants showing that they do care.
"Our numbers are definitely up, and that's great," said Holly Voltz, Spirit of Women program coordinator. "We're getting more people out like survivors to give hope, and have more information about breast health in general to get everybody out. We're happy to do this for the community. It's a lot of fun and it creates a positive feeling."
Ann Cornell of New Lexington agreed.
"This is my third trip here," she said. "I'm not a survivor, but I have two friends and a great-aunt who are, so I came in support of them. This is a wonderful thing. It's exceptional; it's good that our diverse community supports this."
"Whatever you can do to raise awareness is great with me," added survivor Tina Strauss. "It's overwhelming seeing this much support, and I think there's lots of awareness being raised tonight."
One of the highlights was the Pink Ribbon Style Show that featured breast cancer survivors as models. Many like Strauss had the chance to strut their stuff and show off their pink spirit in the lighthearted event. Not only was Strauss in the company of her fellow survivors, her husband Joe and 11-year-old son Cameron, who earlier in the evening both donned shirts proclaiming "Real men wear pink," also hit the runway.
"He's definitely in constant support of Mom and making sure I'm OK," Tina said about Cameron's involvement.
Laughing and maintaining a positive attitude were common themes of the evening as Becky Olson addressed the crowd with her presentation "Humor, Happiness and Hope."
Olson, of Portland, Ore., is a three-time breast cancer survivor. Even though she has been dealt continuous blows to her health, she still exudes strength and cheer.
"I was first diagnosed in 1996 at the age of 43, then again in 2004, and again this year in March," she said. "I just received a good bill of health in August, but I've got to keep a close eye on it. The biggest thing I try to tell people is to never lose hope. If you can find things that bring you joy and laugh, that's so helpful. Breast cancer isn't funny, but there are some funny moments that help make you stronger. Events like this are fantastic; they bring the community together. No one talked about breast cancer 30 years ago, but now we've brought it into the open. It's a badge of honor and we need to tell people as much as we can."