BC3 Project Pink campaign nears $20K
BUTLER TWP — Students at Butler County Community College are raising funds during breast cancer awareness month for research of a disease that has afflicted those they love and that is diagnosed in about 260,000 women and men each year in the United States.
BC3's Project Pink campaign, coordinated for a second consecutive October by students in the college's social awareness club, will benefit the Side-Out Foundation, a Virginia charity that raises funds for research and breast cancer awareness through mainly volleyball-related events.
Since BC3's volleyball program held its first Dig Pink game in 2010, members of the BC3 community have contributed $19,674 to the Side-Out Foundation, including a single-year high of $3,200 in 2019.
The American Cancer Society and a pharmaceutical company founded breast cancer awareness month in 1985.
Students, faculty, staff and guests on BC3's main campus in Butler Township can place donations in BC3 Project Pink buckets located in the college bookstore, or in the Logan or Pioneer cafes through Oct. 31.
Students, faculty and staff at BC3's additional locations, including BC3 @ Cranberry in Butler County, and others can contribute to BC3's campaign online.
Donors can also purchase for $1 Project Pink ribbons that are planned to be displayed in the Student Success Center on BC3's main campus.
Alyssa Sell, Ramona Parsons and Andrea Watson are among the 10 members of a BC3 social awareness club that is organizing the campaign.Sell, 20, of Saxonburg, is pursuing associate degrees from BC3 in social work and in criminology; Parsons, 39, of Butler, is pursuing an associate degree in social work; and Watson, 38, of East Butler, is pursuing a certificate in addiction recovery.Each said she has had a loved one who has battled breast cancer, diagnosed in 255,000 women and 2,500 men annually in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.“This fundraiser helps so many people,” Sell said. “Not just women. It is a disease that can afflict men.”Her biological mother and biological maternal grandmother had breast cancer, Sell said, as did her paternal grandmother.“It may be something that I will have to go through, because it does run on both sides of my family,” she said.
Parsons has had relatives and friends who have had breast cancer.“What we are doing,” she said of BC3's Project Pink, “is important. We can try to help people who are in this situation.”Her aunt is a breast cancer survivor, Watson said.“When you are battling breast cancer,” Watson said, “you need support. It's important that we are raising money for that support.”Dr. Karen Stubenbort, Melissa Philson and Juli Louttit are assisting the students as advisers of the social awareness club.Stubenbort and Philson are associate professors in BC3's education and behavioral sciences division and Louttit is BC3's director of financial aid.
Like the students, Stubenbort has had a loved one diagnosed with breast cancer.The Side-Out Foundation researches medical treatments for all aspects of breast cancer, Stubenbort said, “and over the years, the survival rate has increased tremendously.”Philson is one of those survivors. She has been in remission for four years.“Project Pink brings more awareness to the Side-Out Foundation for its fundraising,” Philson said. “We've come a long way in getting out and talking about it. It's important that women hear the message about early detection, early screening, paying attention, getting their early mammograms. That's the only reason I'm still here.”
Those unable to visit BC3's main campus to purchase a ribbon or to place a donation can donate to BC3's Project Pink at https://giving.side-out.org/campaigns/17869.Those visiting the site can click on the pink “Donate” button and choose the amount of the donation. Donors are also asked to check the box covering the processing fee so that 100 percent of the gift will benefit the Side-Out Foundation.Bill Foley is coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.
