Information: www.pinkheals.org
The color pink was all over the W Atlanta - Buckhead on Sept. 30 as the hotel hosted it’s Cure on the Catwalk event to raise awareness and funds for its month-long W ThinkPINK campaign. Breast cancer survivors were paired with local stylists for a true model experience and while they felt like superstars, the event raised money for Atlanta’s Pink Heals Foundation.
The foundation was started in 2008 by breast cancer survivor Lisa Vingerling as a place of hope, encouragement and positivity. Support groups were great, but the Buckhead resident wanted a support that she couldn’t find.
“When I was going through my cancer treatments, I couldn’t find a place that showed me positivity or an uplifting story of a breast cancer survivor who fought the battle and embraced life,” said Vingerling. “I wanted to find stories from women who didn’t let the cancer define them.”
Pink Heals looks at cancer from a different angle and it has become a way to help young women find positive role models and ideas giving them a glimmer of hope. It hosts yoga, dance and photography classes with Cancer Wellness at Piedmont Hospital and even a makeover day at Saks Fifth Avenue. The fashion show was just another place where the organization expanded its message of positivity to cancer survivors by making them look good on the outside so they could feel good on the inside.
Jennifer Irish has walked the runway for three years and it was through the support of the fashion, hair stylists and the audience that showed the support that Pink Heals is trying to achieve. “It’s amazing to feel that energy around you,” said Irish, who has been a part of Pink Heals for five years. “The crowd is cheering for you and it’s just uplifting to be around that. It takes a long time to get back to feeling like yourself, and the excitement from the crowd is certainly a step in that direction.”
Irish was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the Summer 2007. In 2013, she reached her five-year mark and is now considered cancer free.
Cure on the Catwalk raised over $2,000 for Pink Heals and the W Atlanta- Buckhead is dedicating the whole month to raising money for Pink Heals. Proceeds from every overnight stay and various events like the Fall Back: A Fashion Blogger Pop-Up Shop will also raise money for the organization.
Vingerling wants to get the word out about the website, which she hopes provides, “a little bit of hope to help a survivor or someone going through treatment,” she said. “If you are a survivor, we want to hear your story to expand our network of inspiration. For volunteers, sign up on our website because we have some great events coming up that we will need the community’s support. If all or any of this can help just one person feel like herself again, it’s totally worth it.”
In other news: Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation donated over $16,000 worth of much needed equipment to Paulding County Fire & Rescue. Firehouse Subs created the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation with the mission of providing funding, life-saving equipment, and educational opportunities to first-responders and public safety organizations.
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