Nottingham Women Think Pink

Daniel Lowe – Chabad.org.uk

With an array of pink cupcakes, desserts and decorations, Jewish women in Nottingham, England, came together last week for a “Think Pink” evening as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The initiative, which aimed to raise awareness as well as funds to combat breast cancer, took place at Nottingham Hebrew Congregation and was organized by a committee of college students and community members spearheaded by Brocha Lent, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Nottingham.

“There isn’t a person in the country who doesn’t know someone who has or had breast cancer,” said Lent. “My late mother-in-law passed away from the disease and the evening was dedicated in her memory.”

According to oft-cited statistics, breast cancer is the second-largest cause of cancer mortality for women in the United Kingdom; nearly 46,000 cases are diagnosed and 12,000 fatalities are recorded each year.

Lent said that Jewish women of Eastern European descent are five times more likely to carry the genes thought responsible for some forms of breast cancer.

“The key to success in beating breast cancer is early detection,” said Lent.

All proceeds from the event went to the UK Jewish community’s cancer support organization, Chai Cancer Care; its chairman, Louise Hager, spoke at the event.

“It was an honor and a privilege to attend the event,” said Hager. “I was so pleased to have the opportunity to talk about Chai Cancer Care, how and why it started 20 years ago and to let everyone know what we are doing now and our plans for the future.

“A lot of care and thought went into organizing the event,” she added. “From the moment you walked into the room, there was a lovely atmosphere which really reflected the ‘Think Pink’ theme.”

Women from across Nottingham’s Jewish community came together to make the event happen.

“I helped get sponsors for the event and promote it so that we could get as many women to attend as possible,” said Abigail Frieslander, a student at Nottingham Trent University who was on the event’s committee. “It is something I am very proud to be part of and would love to help out with future charity events.”