OGHS Paints the Town Pink During Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Opelousas General Health System will be painting the town pink in October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We are inviting all of our community to join us in our efforts to educate and bring about awareness of breast cancer.

Why do we Paint the Town Pink (PTTP) in our Community? In Louisiana, it is predicted that there will be 3,770 new invasive female breast cancer cases in 2019. Statistics prove that mammograms save lives. We are making a difference by providing free education and mammograms to women and men who do not have insurance or who cannot afford a mammogram. St. Landry Parish is above the national average for mammography screenings due to availability and access to annual screenings and testing provided by PTTP.

2019 marks our 12-year anniversary of this educational and fundraising initiative. Breast cancer awareness t-shirts will go on sale September 25 at OGHS’ main campus gift shop from 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. and will continue every weekday until they are sold out. The t-shirt price starts at $6.00. We are asking everyone to show his or her support by wearing a PTTP t-shirt or something pink every Friday in October.

New to the list of Paint the Town Pink activities for this year is the Hero Honor Hour! On October 1st at 5:30 p.m., join us at Vieux Village, 828 E. Landry Street, as we kick-off our campaign and honor our heroes of breast cancer.

A “pinkest” business and school decorating contest, painting event, and bra decorating contest are also planned for the month of October. We encourage participation in all of these events. Registration information about each event can be found on our website.

Do not miss our Pink Bag Luncheon scheduled for October 24 at Evangeline Downs Event Center. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased on line or in the OGHS Business Office located behind Ken’s Thrifty Way. Our guest speaker this year is Opelousas native and Women’s Athletic Director Emeritus at the University of Tennessee, Joan Cronan. She was recently inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and plans to share her story of inspiration and motivation.

For the complete list of activities, mammogram qualifying information, or for more information on any of our “Paint the Town Pink” activities, please visit our website, at www.opelousasgeneral.com and click on the PTTP logo. You can also call Carol Duplechain, PTTP Program Director at 948-5157 or Tracey Antee, OGHS Foundation Director at 678-4266.

“Paint the Town Pink” is a breast cancer awareness initiative of Opelousas General Health System’s Foundation.