Many curiously stopped by to check out the hot pink Susan G. Komen van parked outside the Willie Albert Tempton Sr. Memorial Student Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday as others inside were informed on breast cancer awareness and future projects to come as part of the Komen On The Go Tour.
Komen On The Go, founded by Nancy G. Brinkley and Susan G. Komen, tours nation-wide to raise people’s awareness about breast cancer, and give them some knowledge on upcoming events and projects, with its primary focus being on young adults.
“We tour all over, 85 to 90 percent of the places we visit are colleges,” said Kendra O’Donnell, one of the three Komen On The Go staffers. “We’re heading to Louisiana next.”
Brinkley came up with the idea after the Susan G. Komen team had lost one of its younger members, as said in the video played in the van.
” After some tears were shed…I partnered up with Susan G. Komen and came up with Komen On The Go,” said Brinkley. Brinkley said on the video that she felt it was important to reach young women and get them to be more aware of their health.
Inside the van, students, faculty and staff could come and sit down in front of one of the laptops and go through an interactive tour after listening to a brief message from the founder and get some statistics on breast cancer, as well as learn more about other programs such as Circle of Promise. On the interactive tour, it was stated that the risk for African American women to have breast cancer is 36 percent higher than whites. The Circle of Promise was designed for just that reason, to lower the percentage by getting African American women to get check ups and take control of their health.
“A lot of them either don’t know, or just don’t have insurance,” said O’Donnell, when asked why the stats for African American women were so high.
At the end of the video, people could take a survey and register to win a pink ipod nano. Komen On The Go staff also gave away free pink drawstring backpacks with information on breast cancer. There was a model of a breast that was filled with lumps in certain areas to show women how to do a self check on themselves.
“It shows how to do an exam where students can feel the lumps,” said Erica Turner, another Komen On The Go staffer, “There’s also a self-check video on the site,” which can be found at www.komen.org.
A lot of students walked away feeling they had learned quite a bit from the tour.
” It was pretty cool,” said Victoria Huezo, a junior electrical engineering major, “I learned that you might think you’re healthy, even though you could possibly have cancer.”
One faculty member said that he wished there was more information on men who had breast cancer, “I would like to know more about the men with breast cancer. You hear a lot about the women, but I would like to know about the men.”
“I had a friend who lost his grandmother to cancer,” said sophomore chemical engineering major Montrey Petile. “A lot of people don’t know how many are affected by this.”
A few people simply stopped by to sign the Komen On The Go poster placed outside the pink van, where some had written a message to a loved one, those who passed away, or merely left an inspiring message of encouragement saying, “We will find a cure.”
For those who wish to join the Susan G. Komen team, Komen On The Go staffer Kim Kirchhoff suggests checking out Houston.
“There’s a local Houston affiliate and they’re definitely great to get involved with,” said Kirchhoff.
To find out more information on any of the Susan G. Komen projects, or how to become part of the Komen team visit www.komen.org.