October is breast cancer awareness month. For the month of October Leisuretex Painting Contractors fundraised for the National Breast Cancer Foundation and flooded our social media with our breast cancer awareness activities. Our primary effort was our pink hard hats.
If you follow us on Facebook you would be well aware of the pink hard hats! For those of you who don’t (why not?? www.facebook.com/leisuretex ) we ordered pink hard hats for breast cancer awareness month and had the pink ribbon logo emblazoned on them (thank you to Tork Signs for the fantastic job you did!). Our painters throughout Brisbane and greater South East Queensland wore the #leisuretexpink hard hats on site and when time permitted took photos of themselves and others wearing them. For each photo we received Leisuretex Painting Contractors donated to NBCF and their goal of zero deaths from breast cancer by 2030.
I was completely blown away by the support we received! Not just by our painters and staff (who were amazing and without their support this would never have been successful), but also by everyone we spoke to across the month on job sites and even family and friends. I have been touched by not only how eager everyone has been to help and get involved but by just how many people have been affected by this devastating disease; whether it was a family member who’s had a mastectomy, a friend who has had a scare or worse knowing people that have passed away from Breast Cancer.
It really hit me that while I have been looking at this from the perspective of the company and how we can help raise awareness and money for research, breast cancer is such a personal issue. So I would like to share why I personally support National Breast Cancer Foundation and their goal of zero deaths from breast cancer by 2030.
I have been very blessed in my life to have been surrounded by strong and wonderful women. My Grandmother who I was too young to know very well but I still have great memories of, passed away from breast cancer when I was 7 years old. At the age of 15 a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. When the only lunch time topics should have been school and boys, we discussed wigs and recurrences. After a 7 year battle which included remission and recurrences, Jordan passed away.
Then there was my close friend’s mother, Shirley. Shirley was one of those people who could make anyone smile just by being around her. She was a bright ball of strength, light and laughter. At her funeral the service was overflowing with people to the point where our large group of friends were standing outside farewelling one of our Mums; something no 21 year old should have to do.
And then there’s Mrs G. Mrs G was not just a teacher to me or any of the other students she taught. We called her ‘Mum’. Mrs G was kind, caring, funny, strong and selfless. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer we were all shocked. There was no doubt in any of our minds that Mrs G would win this battle, I mean it’s Mrs G. She fought the cancer for years but passed away 2 years ago. Mrs G was my hero, she made me the woman I am today.
In my 25 years of life, I have said goodbye to four important women who have fought and succumbed to breast cancer and have watched others touched by this horrible disease. One in eight Australian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point during their life. It’s estimated that in 2014, 15,270 Australian women will be diagnosed with cancer. That is approximately 42 Australian women each day. Frightening figures. To me, NBCF’s aim of zero deaths from breast cancer by 2030 isn’t just a nice idea, it is a cause to support in any way we can.
I would especially like to thank Alpha Car Hire for your support in our fundraising efforts and again our fantastic painters and managers for tirelessly promoting the hard hats and really going above and beyond!