Through pink ribbons and flower bouquets, members of the Women in Leadership club are taking charge this October to honor Breast Cancer Awareness month by getting students and community members involved. Through the first year of this club, President Rowan Burkel (‘27) and Secretary Emily Schafer (‘27) led this group to empower other young women while honoring those affected by Breast Cancer.
“A lot of people have people in their life that have had breast cancer and been impacted by it, and I think that raising awareness for it helps people to donate more, help fund research, and hopefully someday find a cure,” Burkel said.
Raising awareness doesn’t stop at pink ribbons. Women in Leadership are continuing their mission to raise awareness and raise funds through more events at CHS, such as fundraisers at upcoming athletic events.
“We had pink day last Wednesday, which was really successful. We got pink ribbons for everyone and handed them out throughout the day. We are also going to have a fundraiser next week at a volleyball game,” Burkel said.
Members collaborate to make sure every student and staff member is included and aware of the fundraisers and awareness being spread throughout Chelsea. Members decided to spread the word by purchasing small pink ribbons that everyone at CHS could wear.
“When we came up with the idea of handing out ribbons, we were thinking what’s a way that we can help people participate and help spread awareness even if they don’t wear pink, or even if they don’t see our posts about it on Instagram,” Burkel said. “So we ordered some off of Amazon, and we thought that would be a really good way to just spread awareness throughout the school, and people would notice and ask, what are the ribbons for? The ribbons are just a great way to get the word out there.”
Connecting community members was an important goal for the Women in Leadership club, helping community members who experienced breast cancer feel loved and supported. It is important to honor those affected by Breast Cancer in our community.
“So for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we’re making flower baskets and cards to give to breast cancer patients in the community. So that is what’s connecting us to the community,” Schafer said.
But for Schafer, this means more. So Breast Cancer Awareness holds a deeper meaning this year for her, expressing her connection with Breast Cancer and the change of perspective.
“My friend’s mom has breast cancer, and she just got diagnosed. So I feel like that does really affect how I view [breast cancer] because before it was just this thing that happens. People talk about breast cancer awareness month, but it’s not a personal thing until you meet someone with it or it happens to someone that you know. So it makes it more personal,” Schafer said.
