Sorority hosts breast cancer walk Sunday

Breast cancer does not discriminate. Women and men, young and old, people of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds develop breast cancer. According to the American Cancer Society’s Breast Cancer Facts and Figures for 2007-08, one in eight women will get breast cancer this year.

For these reasons alone, it is important to bring awareness to this disease and that is what Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Chapter Chi Lambda Omega in Hartsville is hoping to do on Sunday with a breast cancer walk at Byerly Park.

However, the local sorority has its own reasons for bringing awareness about Breast Cancer to the forefront. Devita Malloy, president of the Chi Lambda Omega Chapter, says the group has been hit hard by this particular cancer. With only 17 members, two have been diagnosed this year with breast cancer and one had already been diagnosed.
Sorority member Juanita McFarland said two members have passed away from breast cancer.

“Members have really been bothered by this,” Malloy said. She said they are all thinking, “Who is next?”

Nearly everyone knows someone or has a family member who has had breast cancer. Malloy said she has two aunts who were diagnosed with breast cancer.

Sorority Vice President Andrea Hampton, a principal in Chesterfield County, said she lost her mother to breast cancer at a very young age. Her mother was only 43 when she died of the cancer. And she has a teacher in her school who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

“If we can help one person not to lose their mother, it will be worth it,” Hampton said. “Early detection is very important.”

As president, Malloy decided to bring awareness not only to the sorority but to the public through the sponsorship of a breast cancer walk from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday at Byerly Park. Beth Johnson of the American Cancer Society will be in attendance to hand out literature about this disease.

“We are having purely a walk to bring exposure,” Malloy said. “It is not a fundraiser. This is our first time trying.”

The group wants to encourage women to have mammograms and do self-exams.

Malloy said the sorority’s colors are pink and green, and they are encouraging everyone to wear pink to the walk on Sunday, which is also the color associated most with breast cancer awareness as symbolized by the pink ribbons worn during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.

The club is also involved in organ donation awareness. A member of the sorority, Patricia Douglas, was the recipient of a liver transplant in 1993.

Other projects of the sorority include the Debutant Cotillion to raise money for scholarships. The sorority gives two scholarships each year. One is given through the ABC awards program at Hartsville High School, and the other is given to a female high school senior from Darlington County. They also host a coat day where they donate coats to the schools each year.

“We are a service organization,” McFarland said.

Douglas said they provide soup and cornbread after the Martin Luther King Day celebration each year.

They have also collected luggage for children in foster care.

“We try to get people registered to vote,” Malloy said. “In April, we try to bring awareness to organ donation.”

The group meets once a month. Officers, in addition to Malloy and Hampton, are Jacqueline Moore, secretary; Maureen Thomas, assistant secretary; and Daisy Weaver, treasurer.

Malloy said they are extending an open invitation to anyone who would like to join them on Sunday for the walk at Byerly Park. If the weather is inclement, the walk will be held in the T.B. Thomas Gym.

If you go:
Who: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Chapter Chi Lambda Omega
What: Breast Cancer Awareness Walk
When: 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: Byerly Park, or Coach T.B. Thomas Gym at Byerly Park if it rains