Passionate About Pink!
Posted:Tue Oct 21, 2014
Posted By:Deanna Fulghum
Pinktober is in full swing and everywhere you look you can’t help but notice all the businesses, schools, churches and individuals sporting some form of pink. If you have visited one of Yale’s stores this month, you probably noticed that we have joined the pink bandwagon as well. For three years now, Yale Cleaners has gone completely pink to raise awareness and money for a great local charity, Families Fighting Childhood Cancer (FFCC). We get excited to show our support by adding pink to many aspects of our business. Our employees are wearing special pink shirts with “pressing for the cure” and we enjoy packaging our clients’ clothes using pink hangers, pink bags and attaching tickets with pink stickers. If you happen to run into our VP, John Rothrock, you can’t miss the bright pink Nikes on his feet. All month long his motto is “go pink or go home!” Pink is the color of Passion and Love and Yale Cleaners is passionate about supporting FFCC and Turn Tulsa Pink (TTP).
TTP is a Project of The Breast Impressions Foundation started in February 2011 by Judi Grove. You have probably seen her wearing her pink wig and driving her pink car all around Tulsa. As of December 2013 her efforts have raised over $250,000.00, and every penny has stayed local! Turn Tulsa Pink’s mission is to support all men, women and children affected by any form of cancer. The organization is made up of various dedicated volunteers who live and work throughout our community. Tulsa has welcomed Judi Grove’s dream and it is no surprise that the Pink movement has even spread to the surrounding communities.
The funds raised by TTP are awarded to local charities each year. FFCC, a division of the Oklahoma Family Network has been chosen as one of the charities each year since it started. We interviewed Amy White, the director of FFCC to inquire about how her organization benefits from Turn Tulsa Pink. “The efforts through Yale Cleaners and TTP allow me to focus on families instead of fundraising,” expressed White. White became passionate about her organization after living her own personal family tragedy in 2007 when her son, age 5, was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma. She did not want other families to have to go through their tragedies alone. She was hired by Oklahoma Family Network in 2008 as their Pediatric Oncology Coordinator and started their support group FFCC.
The donations White has received have allowed FFCC to develop and continue to hold support groups for parents whose children have just been diagnosed with cancer. FFCC also provides training for their families. One of the training programs, The Care Notebook Training, teaches parents how to organize all their medical records. The Supporting Family Network program helps train families, who have been through a family illness to give support to other families. FFCC is allotted discount tickets to events that they can distribute to their families in need. “Some families do not feel comfortable attending support groups, but enjoy attending events with other families”, said White. Helping families to feel like they are not alone is one of the goals of FFCC.
Yale Cleaners is honored to help support Turn Tulsa Pink and to be a part of Director Judi Groves Pink Bandwagon. So as you notice the pink in the air around Tulsa this October, smile and acknowledge the passion and love that is being spread throughout our beautiful city.
Click on the link to learn more about Turn Tulsa Pink or to donate to this great organization.
