Pink is everywhere in October. You have probably seen many businesses and organizations ‘going pink’ this month for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For the entire month of October, men and women are encouraged to come together to raise awareness and funds to help defeat breast cancer, a form of cancer that affects one in eight women.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is especially important to Zeta Tau Alpha, whose national philanthropy is Breast Cancer Awareness and Education. Through events like Queso for a Cure, hosted on Oct. 11, Drury’s Zeta Tau Alpha chapter works to raise money and bring awareness to campus.

At the Queso for a Cure event, the Drury community helped the Zetas raise $970 for the cause. While this is an amazing achievement in itself, October is not yet over and there are still events scheduled to aid their efforts.

This Saturday, Oct. 28, the American Cancer Society will be hosting an annual event called Making Strides on Hammons Field. It is a noncompetitive 5k walk focused on survivor recognition, promoting awareness and raising funds for support services and researching new treatments. As of the writing of this article, the Southwest Missouri division of the race has raised over $69,000 of their $212,000 goal.

The Making Strides event is one of the biggest philanthropy events that Zeta Tau Alpha attends every year. Philanthropy chair for Zeta Tau Alpha, Sophia Black, is looking forward to the event.

Black said, “We get to recognize survivors and listen to them talk about their experience battling cancer. Lots of survivors bring their friends and family and it’s more of a celebration for the survivors than anything else.”

The American Cancer Society website echoes a similar sentiment.

“From the opening ceremony to the post-walk entertainment, a Making Strides event is a celebration of survivors and opportunity to remember loved ones lost. It’s a day that shouldn’t be missed and won’t be forgotten.”

To recognize survivors, the Drury Zetas will have a booth at the event where race participants will be able to stop for an activity.

“At our tent, we will be handing out survivor ribbons and giving participants the opportunity to write a ‘letter to cancer’ in which they can share their story with us, if they desire,” said Black.

Making Strides is an event that makes a serious and worthwhile impact on all that attend. Hannah Ogden, member of Zeta Tau Alpha, values the event as she believes it really puts the reality of breast cancer in perspective.

“It is very humbling to be able to participate in this event as it celebrates the success of women who have overcome breast and/or ovarian cancer. I don’t experience events like this often and every year I am shocked by the amount of people that breast cancer affects and how supportive the community as a whole is in celebrating the survivors and those currently fighting cancer.”

If you or someone you know is interested in donating, joining the walk or simply learning more about breast cancer and its impact, visit the event’s website at http://www.makingstrideswalk.org/swmo