Huntington commemorates Breast Cancer Month
FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Huntington, Ind.-Huntington University is commemorating Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a week-long observance that began Wednesday and will go through Oct 24. Information tables have been set up in the Habecker Dining Commons and the Huntington Union Building. Student, faculty and staff volunteers are handing out pamphlets and pink ribbons. Last year, more than 600 ribbons were distributed.
In addition, luminaries in honor of or in memory of friends, family and acquaintances who have battled any type of cancer are being sold for $1 each. Proceeds will benefit the Young Survival Coalition, an organization offering support to young women coping with breast cancer.
A luminary lighting and prayer vigil will be held at 8 p.m. Oct. 24 on the central mall. Students, faculty, staff and the general public are welcome to attend. The public may purchase luminaries at the event.
A panel discussion about the effects of breast cancer will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 22 in Hiner Hall of the Science Hall. This event is free and open to the public. Sharon Woods, Huntington's director of financial aid, will share about her battle with breast cancer, and Betty Knipp, mother of Huntington alumna Mary Knipp, will give insights as a family member of someone who coped with breast cancer. Prof. Margaret Winter, director of nursing, and Donna Heck, the university's registered nurse, will provide a medical perspective.
Awareness efforts and the luminary lighting were inspired by Mary Knipp, a 1986 Huntington University alumna who died from complications of breast cancer on Dec. 5, 2006. She was 43 years old. Knipp helped organize Huntington's first Breast Cancer Awareness Week in October 2006.
"Young women think they don't have to worry about breast cancer," Knipp said in an interview for the fall 2006 issue of Huntington University Magazine. "They think it's something their grandmas get in their 60s, but it's just not true. Young women need to be proactive about their healthcare. They need to do self exams. I cannot stress enough there is no medical cure for breast cancer."
For more information about Breast Cancer Awareness Week, log on to www.huntington.edu/alumni or contact Margaret Roush, director of church and alumni relations at mroush@huntington.edu or (260) 359-4097 or Heather Barkley at hbarkley@huntington.edu or (260) 369-4171.
