GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (March. 15, 2014) — It was a Grand Rapids tea party in pink, as west Michigan cancer survivors gathered to celebrate their lives with family and friends.
The Susan G. Komen For the Cure Tea Party Celebration was a chance for breast cancer survivors and supporters to gather to raise some funds for research and testing.
Organizers said that the biggest reason for the gathering is the chance to talk about breast cancer awareness.
It’s something that the executive director of Susan G. Komen West Michigan, Jennifer Jurgens, said wasn’t done 30 years ago.
“When a woman finds breast cancer early, before it leaves the breast, she has a 99 percent survival rate, so the more people who learn about it, who aren’t scared of finding it, that`s the trick right? We don`t want the breast cancer diagnosis, but the truth is if you find it early, you`re going to be fine, and we just need to get that word out, and tell everyone that will listen,” said Jurgens.
Jurgens said that 75 percent of the fundraising dollars stay in west Michigan to provide grants for women to get tested. The other 25 percent goes toward finding a cure.
