Breast cancer is not exactly shooting the breeze kind of topic, but it’s extremely important to bring more attention to it. There are plenty of ways you can get involved in the fight against this cruel disease and providing support and hope to its victims and their families. In the month of October, you’ll be seeing pink all across the world as the color symbol of breast cancer awareness. Below we listed 6 easy and effective ways to raise breast cancer awareness in your environment and farther.
1. Use your social media accounts
Since we live in a digital era in which virtual communication is ubiquitous, we better learn how to make the best use of it.
Through just a couple of clicks, you can spread awareness about Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) on your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts. There are ready-made images for profile pictures you can use during the month of October and encourage others to do the same.
2. Share a personal story
The best way to evoke sympathy within other people, and help them understand the importance of spreading the word and raising awareness, is through sharing a personal story. Whether it was you who experienced it first-hand, your loved one who went through hell and fought back, or if it’s a stranger’s autobiography about battling cancer, post it, share it, talk about it, and use it as a conversation starter in your everyday life. Sharing a moving story will have a significant impact on those who were uninterested or
3. Promo material
Besides wearing and showing pink as the signature color of breast cancer awareness, there are various other products you can buy, such as different branded notebooks, T-shirts, blankets, and even sandals, that have the pink ribbon symbol on them.
If your friend or family member is having a birthday, buy them one of these items, and engage them in conversation about the meaning behind the symbol. Moreover, you can have ribbon stickers on your laptop, your phone case, or even your car. It will provoke questions and give you room to talk about it to people who were unaware of the meaning of the symbol until that moment. One more tip is to, when buying promo material, always look for companies that specifically donate to breast cancer research.
4. Informative website
It’s not realistic to expect from everyone to be familiar with breast cancer, its symptoms, treatments and preventive health check-ups. This is why it’s useful to have a concise informative website where people can easily and quickly find out everything they should know about breast cancer.If you’ve already found a website which offers enough information, spread the word, share it on your social media and encourage everyone to give it a look. And if you want to a step further, start your own website dedicated to providing information about breast cancer. Choose one of the easy-to-use web hosting services such as Wix or WordPress and come up with a creative name that fits the theme. You can invite your friends or post a public call for anyone who’d like to contribute and help with maintaining the website. This would involve weekly updates on the latest statistics, places to get mammograms and screenings, symptoms to look out for, best fundraising organizations etc.
5. Make a donation
One of the most direct ways to help the cause is, naturally, through donations. However, making donations can also be a way to raise awareness and inspire other people to follow your initiative.
You can easily find many charity organizations which help survivors and their families on a daily basis and make a donation through PayPal on a monthly basis. For a step further, you can host fundraising events, such as parties, street actions, selling promo material, and such. This way, people will be animated and hence more willing to contribute to the cause with their donations. Alternatively, you can create your own fundraising page with a couple of quick and easy steps. Then you can easily share and advertise the page online, and, with the help of your friends, spread the word worldwide.
6. Encourage friends and family to go to the doctor to get a breast exam
This is the most important step in raising breast cancer awareness, i.e. this is the crown of your activism. Getting your loved ones to realize the importance of being routinely screened for breast cancer is a victory itself. Starting from casual conversations, to referring them to a website or brochure that provides more detailed information about screenings, you can successfully encourage your friends, family members and acquaintances (online) to take care of their body. Breast cancer screenings are particularly important for women between the ages of 40 and 49. If someone close to you is around this age and hesitant about visiting a physician, offer to go with them, they might just need company and moral support to go through with it.
Whatever you choose to do to from the suggestions we shared above, remember that you’re making a change. Even your smallest efforts can make a huge difference for someone. So many people have been touched by breast cancer, either personally or by witnessing their loved ones battling with this disease, and the fact that they know they’re now alone in this fight means the world to them. With only so little as talking to people around you or making a few clicks on your laptop, you can help make the world a better place for all the survivors and those who’re still surviving.