Every year since 1996, Lee National Denim Day has raised millions of dollars to support breast cancer research. Madison Area Technical College prides itself for being one of the top 100 fundraisers in the nation.
National Denim Day is an annual event that takes place throughout the nation on Oct. 7. People are encouraged to wear jeans on that date to help promote awareness for the disease. The goal is to raise money for research and treatment so that the ultimate goal is achieved – eliminating breast cancer altogether.
Ellen Hustad, the Administrative Assistant to President and District Board, coordinates the events of the day at Madison College.
“I think the survival rate has been growing significantly, and they want to see that number increase – probably mostly through earlier detection and better treatment methods,” Hustad said.
To support this event, Madison College will have a table set up in the Truax cafeteria on Oct. 5-7, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The other Madison College campuses will collect donations on that day. All of the funds raised on Denim Day will go directly towards breast cancer research.
“It’s really amazing,” Hustad said. “Nowadays, everyone seems to have been touched by it in some way. And we don’t really have to do a lot of trying to lure people in.”
Another feature of the Truax campus Denim Day are the“ In Memory of…” and “In Honor of…” boards. Students can write down the name of someone they know who passed away from breast cancer on an “In Memory of…”card. For survivors of breast cancer, there are cards to be filled out “In honor of…”their struggle. These cards then get positioned on the correlating board.
“By Friday, it’s amazing how full they are,” Hustad said. “We always like to see more names on the ‘In honor of…’ board than the ‘In memory of…’ board. It’s a really nice visual. It demonstrates what the fundraising is all about.”
Hustad, also a breast cancer survivor, was diagnosed in 2002 at the age of 42. She was diagnosed and treated early. She has not shown any sign of breast cancer since.
They are getting so much better at diagnosing breast cancer; mine was diagnosed at such an early level it hadn’t even turned into a lump. They caught it that early. That’s why this research is so important – it saved me; it saves a lot of people. I truly believe that this money goes towards a cause that is actually doing something; I’m an example of what the research has accomplished.”
Another breast cancer survivor, who asked to remain anonymous, said:
“I saw a billboard that said, ‘Free mammograms.’ I thought, ‘That is great!’ But you don’t pay attention until it happens to you. Once it happens to you, then you get a new perspective. You start realizing a lot of things and making people aware that they need their breasts annually examined as soon as possible, especially if there is a (family) history.”
The survivor also said that a common misconception of breast cancer is that you are the exception; that breast cancer will not happen to you. Statistics state that one in every eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her life.