Essentia Health and The ANIKA Foundation are excited to partner on a breast cancer awareness and education event that aims to engage women — and the broader community — around the importance of mammograms, lifestyle interventions and support.
People are invited to party with a purpose” at the Pinked Out Party from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, in the main lobby of St. Mary’s Medical Center, located at 402 E. Second St. Featuring education from local health experts and advocates, the event will be a lively gathering filled with fashion, food and music. It is free and open to the public.
Panelists will include Dr. Jill Holsinger, an Essentia Health radiologist; Lanie Dixon, vice president of patient experience at Essentia; Pamela Weems, a two-time breast cancer survivor and founder of Pink Ladies Minnesota; Reona Berry, founder of the African American Breast Cancer Awareness Alliance; and Michelle Aguirre with the Minnesota Department of Health’s Sage Screening Program.
According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, one in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Outside of skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women. However, when it’s caught in early stages, localized to the breast, the five-year survival rate is 99%.
The Pinked Out Party will emphasize the importance of screening and early detection — across racial lines. For example, “breast cancer mortality rates are 40% higher in Black women compared to White women, though incidence rates are similar,” according to the National Cancer Institute.
“We’re proud to team up on an event that engages and educates women around a deadly disease,” Dixon said. “Almost everyone knows someone who has been impacted by breast cancer, so we hope to drive home the seriousness of screenings and really encourage women to get their mammograms. And we’re going to have a little fun at the same time.”
Essentia recommends women of average risk get a screening mammogram every year beginning at age 40.
“We may be superwomen, but we are not invincible,” said Anika Robbins, founder and president of The ANIKA Foundation. “It’s important to know when to take the cape off and take care of ourselves, of each other.”
The Pinked Out Party is supported in part by the Minnesota Department of Health’s Division of Health Equity Strategy and Innovation.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.