The OU Women's Outreach Center received a $7,000 grant to provide funding for educational events like "Breastfest" in October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
"Breastfest," one of the largest events for the month, is scheduled Oct. 22 in the Oklahoma Memorial Union Courtyard at 3 p.m. Singer-songwriter Edie Carey and OU graduates Shanon and Shely Rahimi will perform during the event, center coordinator Hannah Brenner said. Information booths will be set up in the courtyard. The event is free for the public.
The grant, funded by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, is the first funding the center has received for this month, Brenner said. The center applied for the grant at the Central Oklahoma affiliate of the foundation.
Unlike previous years, when the center could only hand out information, the grant allows the organization to provide more comprehensive education during the month. Twenty events were planned to help young women become more aware of the risks of breast cancer, Brenner said.
About 203,500 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, according to the Komen Web site (www.komen.org) with 10,000 of the women under age 40.
"Young women may think it's not important to worry about breast cancer at a young age, but it's crucial to have early detection," volunteer Joanne Nicholas said. "Research has shown that if women begin early prevention practices, they will be able to catch the cancer at an early stage before it's too late."
The organization placed pink ribbons with names of women who had cancer on the Tree of Honor and Remembrance, the blossom tree on the South Oval on Oct. 1 and 2.
Students talked to breast cancer survivors at the Conversation with Women Lunch Series on Oct. 8. Nicholas said it made more of an impact on students to see what someone with breast cancer went through, rather than just receive information.
For students who missed the Oct. 8 conversation, a similar event is scheduled for Oct. 23. A panel of three breast cancer survivors will be available from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the center to answer any questions women might have, volunteer Heather Bird said.
"Even if you don't have breast cancer, it is still good to come and talk to the survivors so you can know how to help any family or friends you know with cancer, and also how to deal with it if you are diagnosed in the future," Bird said.
A Beads for Life Workshop will be held in the Sooner Room of the union Monday. Each bead, representing the different sizes of breast lumps, will educate women on how to detect breast cancer, Brenner said.
For more information on Breast Cancer Awareness Month, contact Brenner at 325-4929 or visit the Web site, www.ou.edu/womensoc.
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