The Pretty in Pink Foundation uses 90
percent, leaving the last ten percent to pay
for phones, brochures and other materials.
Joy Wade thinks pink. She leads the
Pretty in Pink Foundation in Wilmington
and believes, with its alliance of breast can-cer
outreach organizations, that the Cape
Fear region is a model for the rest of the
state. The whole town gets involved; local
restaurants, sports teams and businesses
contribute to Pretty in Pink’s funding.
One business, Coastal Ladies Carting (a
trash disposal service that uses pink trash
receptacles), donates a portion of its profits
every month.
“They’ve grown from one trash can to
hundreds all over town; one man’s trash is
PIP’s treasure,” Wade says.
Women like Wade and Calloway, and
others that work for the breast cancer orga-nizations
are paid through grants, volun-teer
their time. None of the money raised
goes toward salaries.
The Pink Ribbon Project funded
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WBM october 2012
through the NHRMCF’s annual Pink
Ribbon charity events, cares for patients on
an as-needed basis — there is no limit to
their help as long as there is funding.
When women or men (men make up
one-and-a-half to 2 percent of all breast
cancer cases) find a lump or are told by
their doctors that they need screening, the
Pink Ribbon Project is generally the first
to step in. For those who are uninsured or
underinsured, speaking with Pink Ribbon
outreach coordinator Iris Baker can make
the difference between not knowing and
defeating the disease.
What began 15 years ago as a project
by a cancer survivor giving out comfort
bags to patients, turned into this high
profile, local organization at the forefront
of cancer treatment. Shortly after its begin-ning,
NHRMCF’s Pink Ribbon Project
extended its efforts to mammography and
diagnostics. Within a decade and a half,
Pink Ribbon has raised more than $1.5
million providing breast cancer screenings
IRIS BAKER
THE NHRMCF’S PINK RIBBON PROJECT
Iris Baker delivers vouchers to Carla
Daniels, patient access technician at New
Hanover Regional Medical Center’s Health
and Diagnostics location on Military
Cutoff Road.