Activities planned for breast cancer awareness campaign this month

Corbin will be painted pink this week to celebrate, remember and educate those who have won, lost or may one day fight their own battle against breast cancer.

Corbin Fire Department t-shirt and sticker sales

The Corbin Fire Department has begun its annual t-shirt sale to help the Tri-County Cancer Coalition.

2013 marks the fourth year that Corbin firefighters have sold the custom t-shirts that feature the department’s logo along with the pink breast cancer ribbon.

Sales of the black shirts with pink lettering and logo began last week and Firefighter Chad Jackson said it will continue until the 850 shirts have been sold. T-shirts are $10 each and come in size small to 3x.

Jackson said the shirt design is courtesy of Daryl Baker, owner of Forever Graphics and Designs. Lowe’s Sporting Goods in Corbin printed the shirts.

“They went above and beyond to make this happen,” Jackson said, noting Baker, who is a fellow firefighter, donates his time, talent and materials while Lowe’s gives the firefighters a good deal on the shirts and the printing.

When Corbin’s bravest roll out to a wreck or other non-fire run, they will again be sporting the pink fire helmets with the logo of local businesses.

Jackson said the firefighters have 27 helmets this year.

“We only had to find maybe three new sponsors this year,” Jackson said, local businesses pay $200 to sponsor a helmet and then hold on to the helmet to display through Sept. 2014.

New to the campaign this year is the pink stickers featuring the same logo as the t-shirt. The stickers are $2 each.

Corbin Fire Lt. Jack Partin said the department raised about $9,000 in 2012 and approximately $20,000 since beginning the fundraising effort in 2010.

“We would like to beat that,” Partin said of the $9,000 raised last year.

Cathy Lay of the Tri-County Cancer Coalition said the money stays local, as it is used to provide transportation to area cancer patients to their treatments along with wigs, turbans and other accessories to help them feel better as they undergo chemotherapy or radiation treatment.

The t-shirts and stickers are available at the fire department on North Main Street next to City Hall. 

More information is available by calling the fire department at 523-6509.

Baptist Health Corbin, “Think Pink”

Baptist Health Corbin is working to educate the public on breast cancer prevention and local treatment options at its first annual, “Think Pink” event Thursday at The Arena in Corbin.

Lee Richardson, Director of Community Health Services, said the event will feature a panel of doctors to discuss steps individuals may take to decrease their chances of contracting breast cancer and services offered at Baptist Health Corbin.

“Early detection is the key to survival,” Richardson said, adding that, contrary to public perception, men can also have breast cancer.

Guys should do a self breast exam as well,” she said. “If you find a lump or bump that wasn’t there before, you should get it checked by a doctor.”

In addition to the panel, Richardson said there will be approximately 20 booths offering information and various items.

Entertainment will be provided by Zac Hart, one of the contestants on the Katie Couric Show.

The event is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is preferred and may be done online at www.soahec.org/community_education.html or by phone at 523-8788.

Richardson said Dr. Barbara Michna, a general surgeon at Baptist Health Corbin, came up with the idea for the event organizers want to make an annual event.

“She wanted to find a way to promote the services Baptist Health offers, get the community more involved in the fight against breast cancer and get them, ‘thinking pink,’” Richardson said.

Glow Run to be held Saturday

Baptist Family Fitness is sponsoring the Glow Run 2 mile run/walk at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The event run/walk will beg on Laurel Ave. next to First Baptist Church and Gambrel Collision Center.

The deadline for pre-registration has been extended to today. Pre-registration is $20 per person and $70 for a family of four or more.

Entry forms are available at Baptist Family Fitness on U.S. 25E. After Wednesday, the cost of registration will be $25 per person or $90 for a family of four or more.

Registration Saturday will begin at 5 p.m. 

Proceeds will go to the Tri-County Cancer Coalition and the Knox County Cancer Fund.

More information is available by contacting Baptist Family Fitness at 526-0007.

Prayer walk for cancer patients and victims Saturday

It will be voices in prayer that will be raised beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday at Corbin Middle School.

The public is invited to join together to walk and offer up prayers for those in the community who are fighting against, not only breast cancer, but also all forms of cancer, and for those who have lost their fight.

“It began with a couple of moms talking about what else we can do for the people in the community that are going through chemo and/or radiation treatments,” said Kim Farley, who has helped organize the walk. “My husband heard about a prayer walk in Malaysia and we started thinking even if we can’t do anything else for people, we can offer up prayers to the Lord.”

The walk will begin at 8 p.m. with a word of prayer by Pastor Allen Bonnell. The walkers will go south on Kentucky Ave. and then turn north onto Main Street at the junction. From there, they will proceed up Main Street to Roy Kidd Ave. and then back on Kentucky Ave. to return to the middle school.

“The great thing about that route is there are plenty of ways to shorten the route for anyone that can’t walk the whole way,” Farley said.

Farley said participants are encouraged to bring glow sticks of any color to hold during the walk. In addition to making the walkers easier to be seen by passing motorists, the different colors symbolize the different color ribbons for specific types of cancer.

The following link has a fairly detailed listed of specific types of cancer and their ribbon colors. http://lungcancer.about.com/od/lungcancerawareness/a/Cancer-Ribbons.htm

Light purple, specifically lavender, is the color for all types of cancer.

“There is no fanfare or t-shirts,” Farley said of the event. “Nothing other than prayer.”