Sunday July 31, 2011
Community
Thinking Pink
The Pink Tour stops in Chilliwack to talk about breast cancer
Staff/Voice photos
The Pink Tour bus was at Minter Country Garden Store on Saturday signing up women for the Screening Mammography Program.
large pink bus covered stem to stern in autographs from empowered women stopped
in Chilliwack at Minter's Country Garden Store Saturday.
The Pink Tour has been traveling through more than 50 BC communities and Aboriginal Friendship Centres since May until September.
The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) ‘Power in Knowledge’ Pink Tour is a province-wide educational drive to encourage women aged 40 – 79 to take advantage of the free Screening Mammography Program (SMP) throughout the province.
The bus is packed with informational and interactive displays about breast health, mamography facts, risk factors and an on-board quiz all meant to encourage women to register on the bus so receive follow-up calls from the SMP staff to arrange an appointment for their mammogram. So far, over 4000 people have been on the bus and over 350 women have registered.
Province-wide statistics indicate that only 51% of BC women take advantage of the free screening program. Some reports say that if 70% of the women had regular mamograms done the number of deaths could be reduced by up to one-third.
The Pink Tour bus is dedicated to Virginia Greene whose name is painted on both sides. Greene has been described as one of Canada’s most prolific business women and supported CBCF and served on the Board of Directors from 1998 – 2005 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and succumbed to the disease in December 2010.
Pink Tour sponsors are the Government of British Columbia, Canada Safeway and CIBC.
Related Links
The Pink Tour www.thepinktour.com
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation www.cbcf.org
Minter Gardens www.mintergardens.com
See more photos below.
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