Page 8 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2016

COASTNOTES
Award
winning.
Mercedes-Benz
of South Mississippi
11619 Bobby Eleuterius Blvd., D’Iberville, MS 39540 Located on the I-10 Frontage Road at The Promenade
228-265-9185 www.MBofSM.com
Real Men
story by Lynn Lofton photo by Teddy Lewis
Because breast cancer does not just affect women, real men wear pink to show support for the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign to eradicate the disease. A group of Gulf Coast men have officially joined the ranks of Real Men Wear Pink this year. Each has pledged to raise funds for breast cancer and to raise awareness by wearing pink every day in October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“These community leaders are showing their true colors and a bit
of courage by joining the Real Men Wear Pink crusade,” said Liz Gaulke, the American Cancer Society’s community manager for special events. “They are committed to
help bring awareness to the 240,000 daughters, wives, mothers, sisters and friends who are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. Also, each man has a goal of raising a minimum of $2,500.”
The men participated in the Making Strides kickoff event and were formally introduced at the August
30 Reveal Party Launch. Their fundraising efforts will take place throughout September and October, culminating with the Making Strides walk on October 22.
Thanks to the support of many people, $86 million is currently
invested in breast cancer grants for research. More than $60 million is raised with Making Strides events each year as more than one million people unite to fight breast cancer. The breast cancer death rate has gone down 35 percent since 1989 in the United States, which means 224,500 lives have been saved.
“We are truly making strides with fund raising for the research that is saving lives,” Gaulke said, “but there is still more to do. We’re helping people take steps to stay healthy
by establishing evidence-based breast cancer screening guidelines, providing education for health
care professionals, funding grants, enabling at-risk communities to take action, and creating awareness about the importance of breast cancer
early detection.”
8 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • September 2016
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY
228.896.2001 or 800.227.2345 | www.makingstrideswalk.org | www.cancer.org