When the month of October approaches, many students associate this month with the colors of fall, such as red, orange, yellow and brown. Yet another color that students associate with October is pink.
This all began in 1985 when October was first named NBCAM or National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The color is pink, in part because each cancer is symbolized by a colored ribbon, and breast cancer is represented by the pink.
“I think what [NBCAM] means is that it is an opportunity to educate our society” two time breast cancer survivor and English teacher Rita Sayre said.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month’s main focus is to of course provide awareness about the illness, but also to influence people to seek doctors and monitor their health in case of signs of cancer.
About one in eight U.S. women develop breast cancer at some point in their life, according to BreastCancer.org.
Breast cancer is in fact one of the most common cancer. NBCAM wants to help raise money and provide awareness so that the survival rates could be increased.
Students at Elk Grove High School can easily get involved in helping the battle against breast cancer. Orchesis will be doing a fundraiser with pink hair extensions on Oct. 9, where $1 from each extension will be donated to the American Cancer Society.
Also, students should keep an eye on the Nation fan pages, because there will also be a pink out football game to show EGHS’s support for breast cancer.
Starting in January, students can begin forming teams and raising money for Relay For Life.
Relay is an event hosted in the stadium that lasts from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. Participants raise as much money as possible and spend the night walking the track and taking part in other fun activities. Relay is on June 15.
All of the money raised goes to the American Cancer Society, an organization that uses the money for all types of cancers. The money is used to further research for cures for cancer, as well as aiding cancer patients who are short on money.
“I’m really pleased and very proud of the work students do,” Sayre said. “Their work is not small. It really does impact the immediate area.”
By: Codi Oehlerking