TERRE HAUTE —
The community’s pulse flows pink this week as volunteers raise money with a reminder about breast cancer.
Wabash Valley Breast Cancer Survivors Inc. returns to the streets and stores this Friday before Mother’s Day, selling flowers to raise money for those afflicted, and those they hope become aware of the danger. Flowers and plants range in price from 50 cents to $5 and will be available at 15 locations throughout the community from as early as 6:30 a.m. to as late as 7:30 p.m.
Cancer survivor Coral Cochran was sweating pink herself Sunday afternoon, as she and other volunteers returned to the intersection of Sixth Street and Wabash Avenue on a warm day to freshen the ribbon painted there.
“This is our only fundraiser for the year,” she said as friends dipped their brushes for the annual “Paint the Town Pink” preparation. Each year for a decade the group has re-painted the ribbon near First Financial Bank as a reminder of the ongoing fight against cancer, she said.
First diagnosed with breast cancer in 1986, Cochran said she’s since survived a bout with the disease in her salivary glands. In 1992, she and fellow survivors formed a “Y-ME” affiliate in Terre Haute, later incorporating independently as a non-profit 501c3, the Wabash Valley Breast Cancer Survivors Inc. The group’s fundraiser flower sale is all volunteer work, with funds remaining local, she said.
Nina Storey, immediate past president of the organization, credited the members’ families with making it a success. All involved, she said, understand the importance of treatment and prevention.
“I think it’s important because it keeps the awareness going,” she said that afternoon.
Nancy Burk credited the group’s camaraderie with her own success in fighting the disease. Diagnosed in October 1996, she’s long been in remission, maintaining a positive attitude throughout.
“And this group is what got me through it,” she said, pointing out her husband, Gary, and his “Real Men Wear Pink” T-shirt, was among the first to hit the street that afternoon with paint and brush in hand.
Members of the couple’s church, Unity Presbyterian Church, have volunteered to drive flowers Friday, and overall energy seems contagious, she said.
Cochran said money raised by the organization pays for the mammograms of uninsured women, as well as those underinsured. With mammograms ranging in cost from $300 to $450, a key weapon in the fight is often out of reach. Last year the organization issued two grants of $7,500 each to Union Hospital and Terre Haute Regional Hospital, and offers free wigs to patients at the area’s four cancer treatment centers. Pink bags containing heart-shaped arm pillows, silk pillow cases and drainage tube bags are also provided with funds raised by the flower sale, she said.
Breast cancer is the top form diagnosed in women, she said, encouraging the public to remember that while celebrating Mother’s Day this weekend.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Related Photos
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A shadow: Volunteers paint the pink ribbon in the intersection of 6th and Wabash Sunday afternoon.
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Painter: Volunteer Steve Storey paints the pink ribbon in the intersection of 6th and Wabash Sunday afternoon.
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Spokesperson: Coral Cochran is the volunteer director of Sunday's painting event at 6th and Wabash.
Discussion
Breast cancer survivors painting the town pink
Groups annual flower sell kicks off Friday
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