Did you know that 1 in 40 Jewish ashkenazi women carry mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene? To put this in perspective, only 1 in 345 women in the general population carry this mutation.
The significance? The prevalence of this mutation increases the likelihood of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
While this may sound scary, luckily, Sharsheret exists to make coping with this statistic a bit less frightening.
Sharsheret, meaning “chain” in Hebrew, is a national non-profit organization which raises funds and awareness for Jewish women and their families affected by breast cancer. In addition to helping these women financially, Sharsheret also aids them through the process of education on the disease, treatment, and finding the best doctors and support groups.
This Wednesday, you can help Sharsheret in their mission to fight breast cancer by wearing pink. If you’re not normally someone who wears bright colors (especially in February), you may garner attention from your friends! Use that attention to raise awareness about Sharsheret and breast cancer. Or, get a group of your friends to wear pink with you and gain more attention, thereby raising more awareness for this amazing cause.
Happy Pink Day!