- April 16, 2024
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County Administrator Craig Coffey, center, shows off his pink socks at the Pink Army flag raising Oct. 3 to support breast cancer awareness (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)
County Commission Barbara Revels told attendees that one in every eight U.S. women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her lifetime. (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)
Flagler County Engineer Faith Alkhatib and Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts, with the county's pink-wrapped fire truck (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)
Florida Hospital Flagler CEO Ron Jimenez (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)
County Commissioner Nate McLaughlin and county firefighters step up on the top of the county's pink-wrapped fire truck. (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)
County Commissioner Charlie Ericksen (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)
County Commissioner Barbara Revels raises the Pink Army flag Oct. 3 (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)
The county's pink-wrapped firetruck will remain permanently pink in support of breast cancer awareness. (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)
About 60 pink-clad local residents and officials gathered to raise the Pink Army flag for Florida Hospital Flagler’s breast cancer awareness campaign the morning of Oct. 3.
Speaking to the assembled crowd, County Commission Chairwoman Barbara Revels said that one in eight U.S. women develops the disease over the course of her lifetime, and that there are about 2.8 million women living in the U.S. who have breast cancer or have a history of breast cancer.
“Just look around this crowd and think of one in eight,” Revels said. “That’s pretty scary, if it hasn’t already affected you.”
About 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2016, she said, along with 61,000 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer.
“When I look around my family, my community, my friends, I can think of, just off the top of my head very quickly, four women that were close friends of mine that have all had breast cancer,” Revels said. “One died this past year after about a year's battle where it went elsewhere. And the others are healthy right now, and they’re past the five-year survival rate — lucky for early detection and the treatment that we have. So we ask that you all remain vigilant on this. And I know that through our hospital partners, as well as the team of members that we have here in government — all the great things that Suzanne Johnston has done, with her high teas and a variety of other resources that we tap — we hope we can put an end to breast cancer in both men and women.”
Staff representing the Sheriff’s Office and Flagler County Fire Rescue attended the flag-raising, sporting pink. The county had one fire truck wrapped in pink to support breast cancer awareness, and the Sheriff’s Office raised $1,605 by buying pink badges and shirts.
A total of 160 Sheriff’s Office employees participated in the fundraiser, and Sheriff’s Office Director Jim Troiano at the flag raising ceremony presented a $1,605 check to Florida Hospital Flagler CEO Ron Jimenez, who remarked that all those pink badges might just make him smile if he were pulled over.
“I’ll probably have a smile on my face, which is not typically what you have when you get pulled over,” he said. He thanked attendees for their support. “Thank you all for coming out, for wearing the pink, for supporting this cause that is so vital and important to us with regards to the health of women, and men,” Jimenez said.
