RKA raises money to help fight breast cancer

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Pink was the color of the day at The David A. Stein Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy (RKA) on Friday. Many of the students wore the color in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

Some of the students also wore specially designed black and pink RKA T-shirts and the school held a bake sale to raise money towards the cause. All proceeds were to go to Fighting Pretty, a nonprofit group that distributes gift baskets to women during and after cancer treatment.

“I want to support breast cancer awareness because everyone should have a chance to survive if they have a problem because everybody is a good person in the world,” sixth-grader Mollie Ehrenberg said. In addition to wearing a pink T-shirt, Mollie used pink face paint to draw the pink ribbon symbol on her hands, wore pink socks and sported a pink headband.

She said she learned of the school’s support of Breast Cancer Awareness Day from friends at her afterschool program last year and wanted to become involved.

Eighth-grader Michael Toscano said he joined the effort in order to help “support the community.” Michael, who was wearing the school’s specially designed T-shirt, was one of the four representatives of his class. As a member RKA’s student council, he has been involved in raising awareness for the past three years.

High school junior Andonia Gouvatsos, who wore a pink top and a headband with bright pink pom-poms, said she wanted to support the day in honor of her grandfather who died of cancer when she was 5-years-old.

Ninth-grader Marieteresa Porcher Allen said the issue was “a really important topic and everyone should know more about it.”

The school has been involved in supporting the effort for four years, principal Lori O’Mara said in an email.

“We made the decision to get involved after several students shared with us their interest in the matter because a family member had been battling the disease,” she said. “We also have had several staff members who have braved breast cancer as well as numerous staff members who have a family member fighting.”

Between the sale of T-shirts, which will be available through the end of October, and the bake sale, the school raised about $800, Ms. O’Mara said.

The school had the T-shirts made in black and emblazoned with the words “Go Pink, Fight Cancer, Win The Fight,” followed by the school’s name and the year 2016. The pink ribbon symbol sat along the right side. The shirts cost $12 each.

According to Fighting Pretty’s website, the “pretty packages” it distributes to women include a scarf, makeup, journal and a miniature pair of pink boxing gloves – the nonprofit’s signature item. The goal is to make women fighting cancer feel strong and beautiful.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, in 2013 more than 230,815 women and 2,109 men in the U.S. were diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,860 women and 464 men died from the disease.

The nonprofit breastcancer.org, which provides information on breast cancer and breast health, estimates that about 1 in 8 U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. This year, an estimated 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed, along with 61,000 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.

RKA, Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy, The David A. Stein Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy, Lori O'Mara, Fighting Pretty, Breast Cancer Awareness, Lisa Herndon

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