Who are the Pink Ribbon Girls?

Simply put, they are an organization of people who care a hell of a lot about other people, specifically women who have fought or are fighting breast cancer.

However, they are more than that, in fact, I don’t think the impact that the Pink Ribbon Girls make could ever be summed up nice and neat into one or two sentences.

My grandma is a breast cancer survivor. I was kind of young when she was diagnosed but I wasn’t too young to understand the severity of this disease. I had done a 3-mile walk for a few years before this that raised money to help women with breast cancer. While I participated in the Walk For Women’s Wellness I listened to people share their stories. I heard stories from survivors who fought and won against breast cancer. Their stories were inspiring. But I also heard stories from families who had loved ones who were not so fortunate.

I was pretty young when I participated in these walks so these stories didn’t have quite the impact on me then that they would now.

Then I became one of those people with a story. My grandma was fighting breast cancer and I didn’t know what to do or how to help. Thankfully my grandma survived. She fought and won against this awful disease.

Fast forward to present day. I was given the opportunity to be a photographer for a Pink Ribbon Girls event one weekend. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Honestly, I didn’t know much about the Pink Ribbon Girls going into this event. Also, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the event itself.

I had my camera ready to go and I started walking around and snapping photos. As the night went on I learned more and more about what the Pink Ribbon Girls do.

Just like I did many years before I started to hear stories from survivors and from families. Except this time was different. This time, I heard people talking about how one specific organization had changed their lives during such a horrible time. How something as simple as having a healthy meal dropped off to their home helped make things easier. How having a ride to doctors appointments took some of the stress off of their family.

As I snapped photos of the survivors signing the pink firetruck I started to understand. I understood what this organization is fighting for. So many women fight this battle but having the Pink Ribbon Girls in their corner is their secret weapon.

It’s the little things. The things that you wouldn’t even think of being a big deal like a meal. The Pink Ribbon Girls help to take some of the stress away from families by providing things like meals, rides to doctors appointments, housekeeping, and peer support. When families start to think about how they are going to fight this disease often the little things slip through the cracks. But the Pink Ribbon Girls are there to help. They are there to help with the little things so that people can focus on fighting.

I am grateful for organizations like the Pink Ribbon Girls. And I’m glad I got the opportunity to learn who they really are. I’m glad I got the opportunity to hear first hand how much this organization has impacted people.

I thank my lucky stars that I still have my grandma in my life. And I am also thankful to the people that make Pink Ribbon Girls what they are. You are doing great things and I hope you never forget how much you are impacting people’s lives with the things you do.