2008 Woodie Awards
Pirates gather for cure, awareness
Elise Phillips, Assistant Pulse Editor
Issue date: 10/2/08 Section: News
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That's what Campus Wellness, the ECU Department of Women's Studies, Healthy Pirates and other organizations participated in yesterday at the Bate Building on campus. The event, a cancer awareness fair, drew hundreds of students, faculty and members of the community to honor loved ones who had passed away from cancer, celebrate cancer survivors, get information about the disease and rack up on free goodies.
The fair, held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., was the first to include information about all types of cancer.
"We used to do breast cancer awareness every year," said Georgia Childs, assistant director of Campus Wellness-Peer Health, who helped organize the fair. "We would educate students on campus just about breast cancer and over the last year, we decided to start talking about different types of cancer. There are so many types of cancer that affect even college students."
The event stretched down the hallway on the first floor of the building, boasting dozens of tables of information and prizes.
Information about prostate, ovarian, testicular, breast, lung and oral, colon, skin, uterine and other cancers were available at the booths; other tables held information about Locks of Love, an organization that donates real hair wigs to people battling with cancer and tips about good diet and exercise, two ways to help keep cancer at bay. One table had a build-your-own-trail mix station, and one booth was passing out yellow "Live Strong" bracelets to passers-by.
A favorite attraction at the fair was the "Tree of Hope," a tree representing cancer victims, as well as survivors. Event-goers could put a ribbon on the tree to remember loved ones who had passed away from the disease or battled with it. Different types of cancer were symbolized by different colored ribbons (i.e. breast cancer was pink, pancreatic cancer was purple).
Tywanna Jeffries, assistant director of Campus Wellness, helped come up with the "Tree of Hope" concept.
"I thought it would be a really great idea if we could do something for people to honor people that they know who have been affected by cancer," said Jeffries. "[The tree] is not just for people who have died, it's for people who have survived as well, showing that they're here and they have hope to get past the cancer that they have."
According to Childs, the tree showed how many students are touched by the disease.
"A lot of students are affected by cancer, whether it's themselves, a family member or a close friend," Childs said.
One of those students, senior Kristin Campbell, recently suffered the loss of a friend to cancer.
"[My] friend was 28, and he had a baby on the way," Campbell said. "None of my family has had cancer, thank God, but cancer has affected me because [my friend] was close to [the people that are] like my second family."
Another student, senior Maria Modlin, contributed to the fair in a unique way-her senior project was on display. Modlin's work, sponsored by the Women's Studies program, represented four family members who suffered different diseases, including breast and cervical cancer. Modlin used fashion to symbolize each disease.
"I chose to concentrate on heart disease, diabetes, varicose veins and cervical cancer, and to use fashion to draw attention to these specific diseases," said Modlin. "I wanted to direct my study upon illnesses that have affected my life and the women in my life."
Cheryl Dudasik-Wiggs, the director of the Women's Studies department, felt that Modlin's work fit perfectly with the event.
"We thought that people needed to have a visual imagery of what disease is and what it isn't," said Dudasik-Wiggs. "It's not a death sentence, it's something that you shouldn't hide inside yourself. You should wear it and say, 'this is part of who I am.' I am not my disease, but I have this disease."
After participants went through the myriad of informational booths, they received a free T-shirt and other free prizes.
This writer can be contacted at editor@theeastcarolinian.com.
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