Yearly mammograms can help in the early detection of breast cancer. Yet, 26 counties in Arkansas do not have a mammography facility, according to Susan G. Komen Arkansas volunteer Nicole Winters. To get a mammogram, these women have to go to another county.
Winters learned this when she began volunteering several years ago with Komen Arkansas, which is hosting the 2019 Komen Central Arkansas More Than Pink Walk on Oct. 26. She will be chairwoman of the walk next year, a good thing she says, since there are big changes this year, giving her a chance to learn the ropes.
Walk organizers want to get back to the basics. Historically, the yearly event has been the Race for the Cure and Arkansas once had the second-largest race in the nation peaking with around 44,000 registered participants. These days, registration has been way down.
"Last year we had 12,000 people registered," Winters says. "But if you look at the estimates of the number of people -- 25,000 to 30,000 people were downtown."
"That means people are showing up, but they're not registering. So they're not fundraising. The whole point is that this is a fundraiser -- to raise money," she emphasizes.
The change came from the national organization a few years ago, Winters says. "Pink is a color and pink equals breast cancer. But just wearing pink isn't enough. We're here to fight breast cancer. And so we kind of moved toward More Than Pink."
This goes back to assisting women without easy access to screenings. Winters says 75% of the money raised stays in Arkansas and is used to give grants to community programs like ones that fund mobile mammography units.
"It's so easy for us in Little Rock with several mammography facilities to choose from," she says. But other places have none. "That's a big need. And you think about our rural areas and those who don't have transportation, so even if there's one in the next county -- they have no way to get there. That's a big need."
Early detection is important, she says. "We want to get women screened and that's our focus. The statistic is one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Think about how many women don't get screened and that don't know."
To get people more involved, the organization decided to change things up. "Let's do something fun and new. The walk is designed to get back to the basics, back to the mission."
This year, the walk will begin at the River Market Pavilions and those who want to walk must be registered. The event will continue to honor breast cancer survivors with a pink survivor shirt, but this year there will also be a focus on those still living with metastatic breast cancer. They will have their own purple shirt.
Winters says the event will be family-friendly and that event participants will want to come to and then stick around afterward. "If you've ever been to the race before, everybody gets there very early, gets their goodies. They walk, they leave. Right? Done."
She explains there hasn't been a focus on why people participate. "This year, they're going to come to the River Market Pavilions, and we will have a stage presentation. It's very short." But it's nice she says that before the walk, they can explain what Komen Arkansas does.
Also new this year, survivors will lead the walk. In the past, there was a survivors' parade after the race.
"The first thing, when we leave the starting line, you're going to see a sea of pink -- our survivors leading us -- which I think is really important. And also reminds us -- this is why we're here, this is what we're doing. Ideally, we want to get rid of breast cancer. This is not the topic we ever want to have to talk about again, but in the meantime, let's get as many survivors as we can that have been through this. So we're going to focus on them."
At registration, which is $30, participants will get a walk T-shirt and what is being called a buff, a tube of fabric that will be used by registrants during the opening ceremony.
"They are all pink on one side. And then they're different colors on the inside," she explains. Each color represents one of the four pillars of the program -- research, care, community and action.
"It's what we rely on to fight cancer," she says about the pillars. "Before the walk starts, we'll have a whole program about it. But the cool thing is at the very end of the program, everybody turns the buff to pink, and they'll start swirling it around their head. We'll have a big rally with pink waving in the air to really celebrate that we're here and we're here for our survivors, we're here for those who are fighting and those yet to be diagnosed.
"We'll go over both the bridges like we have done in the past," Winters says about the walk. "We still get to see the sea of pink going across both bridges, which is breathtaking, really pretty awesome."
When walkers return to the River Market, there will be a festival atmosphere with food trucks and a kid zone and lots of things to do.
To participate, register at Komenarkansas.org or at Pink Headquarters where walkers will also pick up their T-shirts and wristbands. The headquarters is in the former Whole Foods at 10700 N. Rodney Parham Road and is open now until 2 p.m. the day before the race.
High Profile on 10/20/2019