One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. It is the second leading cause of death among women. Those startling facts are the focus of Breast Cancer Awareness Month held throughout October every year.
Many local businesses and organizations hold events every year to remind everyone how it important it is to continue to raise awareness and money for research that could lead to a cure. Progressive Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ram on Hills & Dales Road in Massillon is one of those businesses.
Last year, the company started its annual Progress 4 the Cure event. It raised $3,500 for breast cancer research. This year’s event was held 4 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 5 on the car lot of Progressive. There was free food, door prizes and family activities. Those purchasing a pink duck for $5 received a discount card to use at participating Stark County businesses throughout October and November.
"We have 60 vendors coming together to raise money for breast cancer awareness and research," said Tom Schmidt, director of business development and community relations at Progressive Auto Group. "The money is raised through selling pink ducks for $5. The money raised is split evenly between Mercy Medical Center and Aultman Hospital, which are two outstanding hospitals."
There were also raffles and local restaurants giving away free samples. Schmidt said there was a limited-edition wall hanging of LeBron James, a 48-inch big screen television and a vacation package up for raffle. Plus, more than 90 door prizes were handed out throughout the evening.
– One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.
– Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women.
– Each year it is estimated that more than 246,660 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die.
– Although breast cancer in men is rare, an estimated 2,600 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 440 will die each year.
– On average, every 2 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and 1 woman will die of breast cancer every 13 minutes.
– More than 2.8 million breast cancer survivors are alive in the United States today.
SOURCE: nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-facts
Tim Sanders and his brother, Craig, are fourth generation owners of the family business. Tim Sanders said the family has owned the company since 1937 and the Massillon location has been open since 1999.
"We wanted to help with something that affects so many people in Stark County and we started this event last year to raise money to help local medical facilities," Sanders said. "All of the money raised will go directly to the breast cancer programs at both Mercy Medical and Aultman Hospital. We’re happy to see how big the event has grown in just two years."
Both Aultman and Mercy Medical will be holding screenings and other events throughout the month. Visit the websites for more details about events and services. Log on to Aultman at https://aultman.org/home/services/medical-services/cancer/breast-ca/#/ and Mercy at https://www.cantonmercy.org/breast-care-center.
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