Walking around campus, the chances of seeing the color pink dramatically increased this month. Between the pink streamers, flags, sidewalk chalk and hot pink streaks in people’s hair, it can only mean one thing—it’s Breast Cancer Awareness month.
According to breastcancer.org, one in eight women will develop invasive breast cancer in her lifetime. In 2011, there were more than 2.6 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S. An organization at Drake is working to make sure that number keeps rising.
Drake’s Colleges Against Cancer will host the third annual “Bowling for Boobs” today from 6-9 p.m. at Merle Hay Lanes. The $10 cost covers two games and a shoe rental. All the money raised goes toward the Relay for Life total in the spring. That money will then go directly to the American Cancer Society.
“‘Bowling for Boobs’ isn’t just for Drake but also for the community,” said senior Robin Sautter, co-president of CAC.
In addition to selling shirts on campus, CAC sold 120 shirts to members of bowling leagues at Merle Hay Lanes.
CAC worked with Merle Hay Lanes to plan the event and make it affordable. First-year Rachel Vana said that the bowling alley was easy to work with during the planning process.
“They’re really supportive of the actual event,” Vana said. “So they were willing to make that deal with us.”
But overall, it will be the support of Drake students that make the event successful. CAC hopes that hosting the event off campus will intrigue people to get involved.
“Not that many people get the time to go bowling,” Sautter said. “It’s really fun if you just bring a lot of friends and go bowl.”
First-year Tori Carter said she is excited to attend the event for the first time.
“I think it’ll be successful because a lot of people have said they want to come,” Carter said.
Leading up to the event, CAC worked to spread the word throughout campus about awareness of the cause. This campaign included “Think Pink” week. Activities ranged from selling T-shirts, receiving candy for wearing the color pink and helping Drake students put pink streaks in their hair. “Think Pink” week concludes today with the bowling fundraiser.
Also today, CAC will give students the chance to practice their bowling skills with pumpkins in Helmick Commons.
“If you get a strike, you get a shirt,” Sautter said.
CAC has put plenty of work into planning “Bowling for Boobs” and “Think Pink” week, and the organization hopes it will translate to raising awareness and funds.
“Obviously, we want people to have fun and enjoy themselves,” Carter said. “But the biggest goal is to raise awareness of breast cancer.”
In 2011, an estimated 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women. This is the kind of statistic that events like “Bowling for Boobs” hope to lower.
“In the end, cancer will not discriminate against anybody,” Vana said. “And everyone needs to be aware of that.”
