A nonprofit organization out of Tipp City that sticks to its mantra of not just “talking” about cancer but “taking ON” cancer, just took a huge step forward.
The Pink Ribbon Girls just announced it will launch its first out-of-state region in St. Louis at the beginning of September. Although Missouri might seem like a stretch for the organization's first major expansion, PRG's CEO and president, Heather Salazar, said it's apparent that this is a move in the right direction.
The idea to add a region to the west came about after St. Louis radiologist, Dr. Catherine Appleton, heard about PRG and the thousands of lives they were improving. Appleton is chief of breast imaging at the Washington School of Medicine.
“I believe PRG will have a profound impact in the lives of my patients and their families,” said Appleton in a press release. “St. Louis has a rich history of rallying around causes and I am confident there will be additional individual, corporate and community support for the PRG organization. I see patients every day waging battles against cancer and they need Pink Ribbon Girls.”
Part of the work PRG does to “ensure that no one travels this road alone” is providing free direct services of healthy meals, house cleaning, rides to treatment and peer support to its clients. A St. Louis-based grocer, Schnucks Supermarkets, has stepped up and committed to donating 100 percent of the food, a burden lifted off of PRG that Salazar said has made this decision even easier.
Pink Ribbon Girls, a 501(c)3, was founded by breast cancer survivors who have a passion for supporting and empowering others who are currently in the fight against breast and gynecological cancers.
"We are honored to be able serve so many women with metastatic cancer through our Mets Cancer program (NO Age NO Stage) as well as those in our In the Fight program (Simply Fight). In 2016, Pink Ribbon Girls was able to provide 61,000 meals, 900 house cleanings and 2,100 rides to treatment," according to PRG's website.
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