Paint It Pink

"Cancer is not a death sentence, but rather it is a life sentence; it pushes one to live."
- Marcia Smit -

Avon has a new breast cancer fund raising program called Paint It Pink Canada. Avon is inviting the public to make a statement in pink, by making, creating or doing something in pink and then taking a picture of it. The picture is then uploaded to the Paint It Pink Canada website where viewers can vote on the picture of their choice. Every time a viewer votes (you can vote once each day), Avon will donate $2 to the breast cancer charity chosen by the person who uploaded the picture. I have chosen Willow Breast Cancer Support Canada.

I didn't use Willow when I was in the midst of my cancer journey. I didn't really know much about the services that Willow provides. I wish I did. I now sit as Vice President of the Board of Willow and I know what really great help the agency provides. Willow supports people today who can't wait for tomorrow's cure. Willow provides peer support, information and help in navigating the breast cancer journey - a lifeline to many women dealing with breast cancer.

I've spent a few weeks considering what I would create for the Paint It Pink campaign. In the end I didn't really come up with anything that felt original enough, or fun enough or optimistic enough. So I retrieved the photo of me in my pink shirt, bald and puffy from a few months of chemo. I used the picture when I was fundraising for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer when I made my first victory walk in 2006. I know the picture shocked some people but I never really saw it that way. It was the reality of what I was dealing with that year. At first glance, my bald head may seem disturbing but if you really look at the picture, you can't miss the life in my eyes or the genuine smile on my face. I had already moved from survivor to thriver.

I'm attaching the link to the Paint It Pink website. I really hope you will visit often and click on my picture and vote. And it would be great if you would tell your friends too. Let's see if we can raise some real money for Willow so that a lot more women will get the support they need to help them make the survivor to thriver leap.

Please click on the link below to vote for my photo:
http://paintitpinkcanada.com/pages/gallery.php?lang=eng&id=07291234593688