October is awash in pink, from sales pitches for flip-flops and nail polish to the massive ribbon stuck on the front of the state Capitol. You have to be colorblind and completely oblivious not to know it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
This morning, thousands of Colorado women and their families will lace up their sneakers and hit the Pepsi Center grounds and neighboring streets for the annual Race for the Cure, raising an estimated $800,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. (Registration begins at 6 a.m. on the east side of the Pepsi Center.)
All the attention is a far cry from the experience Sue Miller had during her battle with the disease. Following a mastectomy in 1971, she lost her job as a fashion model. “It was the first time since I was 13 years old that I wasn’t working as a model; it changed my whole life,” she said. “No one wanted to see what I looked like, to see a woman who was scarred.”
It took a few years for her to rebound, but in 1980 Miller organized a fashion show of breast cancer survivors as a means of educating women about cancer and breast health. “At that time, people thought you could catch it, like a cold,” she says. “We needed to be able to talk about it.”
Miller has now spent 25 years on the cause and was honored Wednesday morning for her service to Day of Caring. Appropriately, the award breakfast was at Foley’s, a longtime sponsor of the fashion show held each year.
“In the early days, we had the show and two seminars, one on breast health and one on mammograms, and that was it. Now it’s huge,” she says. “We see 1,200 men and women every year, 400 of them on scholarship. There are 18 or 20 seminars and a fashion show when we tell everyone’s story.” Also part of the event are an art show, silent auction, vendor booths and a luncheon.
Next year’s Day of Caring will be May 16. And Miller will be there, talking just as she did years ago, when people were afraid to listen.
“I guess when we started this, I never dreamed it would be 25 years, but I tell people, as long as they need us, we’re here for them.”
Miller is sharing more of her story in a book she’s writing with Amber Dahlin. It will be published early next year.
This month, local retail outlets are hosting activities and fundraising events with proceeds that will go to breast cancer organizations. They include:
Cherry Creek Shopping Center: Cancer survivors, friends and family members are writing messages of hope on 4-by-4-inch puzzle pieces in assembling a 5,000-piece puzzle on the upper level of the mall. Pieces are available for $1 each at the mall’s booth at the race today, and thereafter at the Guest Services Center. The center is also selling pink race bracelets for $2 each. And the mall is exhibiting “Faces of Inspiration,” a photo display of 100 Colorado breast cancer survivors.
Fit for the Cure: At area Dillard’s stores this week, Wacoal will donate $2 to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation every time a woman gets a fitting for one of its bras. In October, Wacoal also is donating $2 for every pink bra and Awareness bra purchased. Fittings at Dillard’s will be 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday at Buckingham Square; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday at Southglenn; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday at Southwest Plaza; 11 a.m-5 p.m. Thursday at Westminster and FlatIron Crossing; and 10 am.-4 p.m. Saturday at Park Meadows.
Bra drive: Store of Lingerie in Cherry Creek North will donate new bras and underwear as well as gently worn bras collected from customers in October to The Gathering Place shelter for women and children. The store is at 248 Detroit St. Call 303-548-4731.
Pampered Passions Fine Lingerie: An open house featuring a Camp Healthcare trunk show and post-mastectomy fittings all day will be Oct. 19. Lunch will be served 11 a.m.-2 p.m., dinner 5-8 p.m. The store is at 9615 E. County Line Road, Englewood. Call 303-346-8450, or visit pampered passions.com.
Staff writer Suzanne S. Brown can be reached at 303-820-1697 or sbrown@denverpost.com.
