Betty Lea and Joyce Marshall were at Durham College’s Power of Pink event that was held recently to raise money for breast cancer research and the Heather Griffith Breast Assessment Centre, which is coming to Lakeridge health Oshawa later this year. The campus is painted pink annually for this event.

By Katie Strachan
The Oshawa Express

The primary colours that typically stand out at Durham College any other day - forest green and black – were undermined by another colour recently.
That colour was bright pink.
The campus of Oshawa’s college and its shared partner, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), was stamped pink in an effort to raise funds for breast cancer research.
Betty Lea and Joyce Marshall were two of the many women, along with men, who attended the college’s sixth annual Power of Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Day. The duo was on hand selling T-shirts in support of the Heather Griffith Breast Assessment Centre, which is being built at Lakeridge Health Oshawa this year.
Lea is the CEO and event coordinator for an event called the Gala of Hope, which was created after Heather Griffith, Lea’s daughter, was diagnosed with two forms of breast cancer.

The first Gala of Hope was held in 2004, just three days after Griffith’s last radiation treatment and while it was originally slated as a one-time event not only to raise money but also to take Griffith’s mind off her cancer treatments, it quickly spiraled into much more than that.

The Gala of Hope raised more than $130,000 in its first four years, says Lea, adding it was Griffith and her sister, Robin Lea Young’s idea.

“I just hope that over the years the Gala of Hope remains as a constant symbol of the Heather Griffith Breast Assessment Centre,” says Lea.
“The thing about this centre is that it is a great breakthrough for the women in our community and will make a huge difference for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in the Durham Region.”
Marshall says she’s hopeful the centre will be opened by the fall.
The centre will provide women of all ages access to education tools, support and a link to supportive care.
It will consolidate mammography, ultrasound and breast assessment components all in one location creating faster results.
To date, $700,000 has been raised through the sale of T-shirts, like the ones Lea and Marshall were selling at the college and through events like Bowl for a Cure and Bras for the Cause.
The goal for this year’s Gala of Hope, which is now called the Pink Martini, is to reach the $1 million mark for the centre.
“We’re just a normal family without a lot of connections in the fundraising world so what the Gala of Hope has done, is to demonstrate that anyone can get an idea and make a difference in their own community,” adds Lea.
The 7th annual Pink Martini dinner dance will be held on November 12, 2010.
It will feature an auction with many Christmas-themed items. The group’s ‘I Love Boobs’ shirts will also be on sale.
The Oshawa college has hosted the Power of Pink event since 2004, but this year it decided to try something a little different.
Participants were given a passport that was stamped each time they made a monetary donation at a participating office or event display. For every stamp they received, donors were given a ballot to win prizes including gift baskets, athletic wear and college/university branded gear.
The campus was clad in shades of fushia, magenta and rose. Bake sale tables, games and fundraising events of all sorts filled the hallways.
A portable mural, titled the Memory Wall, was wheeled throughout campus paying tribute to loved ones who have battled the disease.
All proceeds from this year’s event will be donated to the Ontario chapter of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and the Gala of Hope.