Lillie’s Girls Raise Awareness

Cancer.
It’s a disease that most people do not like to talk about. This is not the case for fourth-year chemical engineering major Eboni-Noelle Washington.  She hopes to raise awareness about this disease with Lillie’s Girls, an organization she founded this year along with her sister in honor of their grandmother, the late Lillie Ruth Gibson.
Washington has always had a personal interest in cancer. When she was a child, her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer.  “I couldn’t understand at the time what that meant. I just knew that my grandmother was sick,” Washington said.
The older she got, the more she learned about the disease. She was moved by the stories of the millions of people who are affected by cancer.
“There are, in my opinion, too many people who have cancer and the number just keeps getting bigger,” she said.
 Since then she has made it a personal mission to educate people about cancer. 
 Her organization, Lillie’s Girls, focuses on raising awareness about breast cancer by hosting events to benefit breast cancer research.
“The purpose of Lillie’s Girls is to spark the conversation about breast cancer. It is such a terrible disease. I just want people to realize that everyone is affected by it even if it isn’t at a personal level.”
Lillie’s Girls is currently based in Washington’s hometown of Daytona Beach, Fla., but she hopes to expand. 
“I definitely want to take Lillie’s Girl to the next level. I want us to be a national organization,” Washington said.
Currently the organization is getting ready for their first event – getting a team together for a breast cancer walk hosted in Daytona Beach in October. She is also working on a benefit fashion show slated for March.
When asked about balancing being a student and working for her organization, Washington said, “It’s a lot of work, but I know it will be worth it”.
Lillie’s Girls is currently looking for people to join their team for the benefit walk. If you are interested please email Washington at Eboninoelle@gmail.com or visit the group’s website, Lilliesgirls.org.