A paradigm shift occurs when something forever changes the way you look at life.  This is such a story.

In early spring 2008, in an unusual still moment of a telephone conversation with Kathy, a college roommate, a quiet voice on the other end said… “there is nothing you can do.... just pray for me and somehow make a difference.” Praying I could do…but how do I make a difference for this friend? That request tossed around in my head for several days.  She was too young to be diagnosed with breast cancer, so I thought.  Not old enough yet to begin regular mammograms, by insurance standards.  But here we were.  And in all the agony of the uncertainty that lay ahead for Kathy, there were amazing blessings.  What was first thought to be scar tissue was found to be cancer because digital mammography was available to Kathy. A blessing! Kathy is here with us today and has hope for healing because digital mammography helped to detect her cancer and treatment could begin. 

After a full mastectomy and while finishing her chemotherapy, I shared Kathy’s story with another friend, Shannon, while on a girls weekend away.  The story prompted her to share some private concerns she was having with a sensitive spot under an arm.  We decided she needed to have it looked at by her doctor and within a few weeks, she too was diagnosed with breast cancer and began treatment.  It became clear that this ripple in our lives was quickly becoming a tidal wave of information, opportunity and a journey of touching and changing lives.

 

The vision of Pink Christmas was born that June as this story was shared again with a Ludington friend and local business owner who was passionately working with our local hospital to raise funds to build a Women’s Imaging Center.  We were filled with hope as ideas filled our heads of how we could touch the lives of other women and families in our community who are surviving and fighting breast cancer. Turning the town pink seemed to light up the discussion. We simply desire to turn the town pink for Christmas to show our community's love and support for those who are survivors or current fighters of breast cancer.

We began by telling the story to small groups and asking them to join us. Pink Christmas began to move forward with overwhelming support from our community and developed a passion all its own as kindred spirits quickly stepped forward to embrace this vision.  We continue to move forward with an open invitation:  “Join us and make a difference!” 

Using this unique campaign we hope to positively impact the lives of many within the Ludington community and beyond.  Christmas is the perfect time to embrace a woman and her family as she is challenged by the journey of this disease.  We hope to lift her up, inspire her and embrace her through our support.  It is also the hope that we positively touch the lives of young women and girls within our community or that visit our community at Christmas by imprinting on their minds and hearts the importance of preventative healthcare throughout their lives. 

While we respect and value state and national organizations and programs that support breast cancer research, we want to make a difference right here at home.  Many women and their families are in need of local services.  We invited the City of Ludington and the Downtown Ludington Board of businesses to participate in this cause.  They accepted with an overwhelming amount of enthusiasm and quickly became a vital partner in the campaign.  Downtown business owners as well as area organizations, agencies, businesses throughout the county and individuals joined in the effort.

We understand the importance of a commitment to provide compassionate, quality health care to maintain quality of life for the citizens of Mason County and West Michigan.  So, it was our focus to create this campaign to benefit the new Women’s Imaging Center at Memorial Medical Center with digital mammography at its heart.  After Memorial Medical Center Foundation announced on August 9th, 2008 that is was committed to raise $1.275 million to fund this entire project it became clear that in order for our hospital to be successful in this endeavor, the community needed to support the cause. Through the Community Relations Committee of the Foundation of Memorial Medical Center, a committed task force of volunteers has stepped forward to organize the vision of Pink Christmas into a spectacular community holiday event.  It is the heart of our community that propels us forward.

Turning a town pink is not an easy task.  But, it will happen...one tree at a time, one store front at a time, another home lit in pink and another pink ribbon tied around a tree.  One by one, they will join in and show their hearts, their compassion and their support for those women in our community who are thriving past the journey of breast cancer and supporting others who are currently fighting this disease.

This is the time and this is the purpose for which we are now called to make a difference in our community.  We are each challenged in this life, to change what we can, accept what we cannot change and to make ourselves wise to know the difference.  This is something we have the power to change right here at home. We save lives with early detection.

Think of a woman you love: your sister, your mother, your grandmother, your daughter, your wife, your best friend.  Doesn’t she deserve your support and the chance to have the best possible services in our community? Don’t you want her to also have a chance at hope?  

On August 1st, 2009 at the Memorial Medical Center Foundation Benefit Ball held at Lincoln Hills Golf Club,  the widespread community support was stimulated by a matching funds promise.   This event and commitment greatly assisted in reaching the fund drive goal for Ludington’s new Women’s Imaging Center. Their offer spurred a surge in donations. The campaign met its goal a few days before the matching funds challenge was to expire. The $1.275 million facility at Memorial Medical Center will be fully funded by private donations when it opens this fall.

Thanks to steady donations throughout August, plus the matching funds from the anonymous trio the gap was closed and the campaign reached its $1.275 million goal.

“This project has been embraced by the community, and we are grateful for that support,” said hospital CEO Mark Vipperman. “The generosity and enthusiasm of the response has shown us that this community values quality healthcare.

“The center will open on time this fall,” said Vipperman. “Thanks to our donors, and especially to the matching fund challenge and those who stand behind it, we will have the latest digital mammography technology, and a beautiful new facility for women’s health services.”

Current projections are for the women’s imaging center to open in mid-October. Grateful hospital officials are planning an open house to officially introduce the state-of-the-art facility to the community and the donors who made it possible.

Please join us in this campaign in creating opportunities and touching lives. The journey does not end here.  Funding and building the center is only one part of this vision for this community.  Getting women - all women - to use it is the other.  Early detection is the best protection! 

Please join us as we continue our journey of awareness,  education and celebration as Pink Christmas turns into the Power of Pink Celebration 2009. 

The best gift you can give yourself or a woman you love is the gift of good health.