Pink Ribbon Breakfast in Sydney
By Manju Mittal
On Sunday morning on December the 13th, 2015, I had the honour of attending Pink Ribbon Breakfast event in Parramatta. Rekha Rajvanshi has been assisting Pink Ribbon fundraising efforts for the past 4 years with a community breakfast. This year the annual event was held at the Saravanaa Bhavan South Indian Restaurant in Parramatta. It was a huge success with more than 60 guests turning up to support the fundraiser with ladies dressed in many hues of pink. Among them many survivors and fighters of the dreaded disease while others who supported the cause with great enthusiasm. They all looked pretty yet united in pink to show their support.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer amongst women in Australia. It has affected many Indian women in our community as many heartrending stories we hear of women loosing their life to the disease. Not only just the woman the whole family around her is affected.
Co-host Sue Advani welcomed the guests and spoke about the cause, focusing on the importance of support provided to women during their cancer journey. Breast cancer survivor and host of the event Rekha Rajvanshi shared her own touching story of how cancer impacted her life. She also shared inspiring poetry that touched the heart of attendees.
Rekha Rajvanshi thanked attendees and acknowledged the community of its continued support of the event.
“It is a credit to all who are involved in the annual fundraising breakfast and to those of you who generously donated to make it a great success,” Rekha said.
Another brave cancer survivor Maina Gordon talked about her experience in fighting breast cancer and raised awareness about the disease and how she fought it. Community member Aruna Chandrala shared recent tragedy of a friend who lost her life with breast cancer. She also added the Pink Ribbon Mission is something we should all support.
Games and raffles organised by charming co-hosts Bharti Gidvani and Anju Kalra made the morning an extra special event. Dipankar Choudhury entertained us with beautiful songs. Narasimhan Viswanathan sponsored sound system. Hemu Negi & Jyothi Shankar captured the event with their excellent photography. The delicious catering was looked after by Saravanaa Bhavan. Yummy pink cup cakes were sponsored by Sue Advani. Other supporters were Bharti Gidwani, Anju Kalra, Kiran Bajaj,Gauri Ahuja, Gogi Kaur, Laju Bhojwani and Anil Meena Berry.
This event is such a success mainly due to the people who attend and efforts everyone puts in in the event. No wonder it managed to raise a handsome sum of $2569.
My own sister-in-law suffered from breast cancer and lost her life in her mid 40’s. She was ashamed to publicly divulge about it and to be examined by physicians. Many women suffer in silence till it is too late. In the past breast cancer was a disease spoken about behind closed doors by the Indian women. Pink Ribbon Foundation gives women a feeling of community and support. Women are being drilled and educated about the importance about mammograms. Women today feel more empowered to take control of their health and not ashamed to seek help. Rekha Rajvanshi could be an example for women to not just be aware of breast cancer but also to act on it as a preventative measure and catch it early. She has inspired many women with her courage and strength. Don’t let breast cancer take away the motivation to achieve your dreams.
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