For the second year in a row, Culver-Union Township EMTs are sporting blue and pink “EMS For A Cure” shirts in support of breast cancer awareness. EMS Director Robert Cooper said this is an internal effort, not a fundraiser, and each of the department’s 29 EMTs purchased the shirts with a portion of the purchase price going to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Cooper said the department has considered the possibility of doing this as a fundraiser in the future, selling the shirts to the public, but for now, he said it’s just something they’re doing internally in an effort to make people feel good.
“It’s a feel-good thing,” said Cooper. “It really brightens peoples’ day. People call an ambulance because they’re not having a good day; they’re sick, they don’t feel good. The ambulance crew walks in in pink shirts, and it just brings a smile to peoples’ faces, and that’s kinda what we’re about.”
Of course, Culver EMS isn’t alone in its efforts to raise awareness of breast cancer. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, IU Health Starke Hospital is offering $95 mammograms. The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center says that 25 percent of all breast cancer victims are younger than 40 years old, and 85 percent of these victims do not even have the disease in their family history. However, women with a close relative that is a breast cancer victim still have a greater risk of contracting the disease themselves.
