Breast Cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast grow out of control. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease. The goal is to get as many people as possible involved in raising awareness and funds to help support the people going through it or who have gone through this. According to the website World Cancer Day, "Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide. About 10 million people die from cancer every year. More than 40% of cancer-related deaths could be preventable as they are linked to modifiable risk factors such as smoking, alcohol use, poor diet and physical inactivity." About 264,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women and about 2,400 in men. In the U.S., one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Overall, there are over 3.8 million people with breast cancer.
There are different ways to acknowledge Breast Cancer Awareness month, mostly with people wearing the color pink. According to "The Meaning of Pink Ribbon", The main symbol is the pink ribbon, which is actually “a moving piece of American history tied to the overall sentiment of unity and support.” During Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October and throughout the year, people wear pink ribbons to honor survivors, remember those lost to the disease, and to support the progress we are making together to defeat breast cancer. The pink ribbon represents the courage to fight breast cancer, hope for the future, and the charitable goodness of people and businesses who publicly support the breast cancer movement. According to an article, “Wearing pink is just the start: More Ways to take part in breast cancer awareness month,” "It is intended to evoke solidarity with women who currently have breast cancer. Wearing pink is a way to promote it but there are multiple other ways. For example, you can fundraise, raise awareness by telling facts, tell stories of yourself or others you know.”
A way to bring awareness to breast cancer is wearing the color pink. Lowellville’s superintendent Christine Sawicki thought that it would be a great idea to support this cause by selling pink ribbon t-shirts. Instead of fulfilling this, Mr. Ballone had the idea of creating a t-shirt in honor of Mrs. Sawicki being a breast cancer survivor. He ordered t-shirts for all of Lowellville’s staff, then the staff got together and took a picture with her to pay tribute to her as a breast cancer survivor.