To Friends of Women's Health:

We invite you to become a member of the FDA/Office of Women's Health-sponsored "Pink Ribbon Sunday" Team. If you believe that early detection of breast cancer saves lives and you are willing to roll up your sleeves to educate women in your community ... this program is for you! We are ready to help you find free materials.

What Is Pink Ribbon Sunday -- It is a public education campaign that started in Houston, TX. Our FDA Public Affairs Specialist, Sheryl Baylor, cosponsored educational activities with the local American Cancer Society in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The program encouraged minority churches to educate their congregations about the use of mammography equipment as an early breast cancer detection tool. Churches were empowered to develop their own activities, ranging from inspirational guest speakers ... to table displays ... to culturally appropriate educational material. Over the years support for this program grew to include 153 participating churches reaching approximately 110,000 women and their families in the Houston metropolitan area.

What Other Communities Have Done -- Participating churches put together start--up kits which consisted of pink balloons, pink ribbons, pencils, breast cancer brochures, and a disposable camera to create a memory book for the church. In addition, each city established a planning committee and tailored its activities to meet the needs of their community. We provided the three cities with free educational materials. This FDA/OWH faith-based project later spread from Houston, TX to Washington, DC to Atlanta, GA to Dallas, TX. Here are some highlights from these cities:

Washington, DC -- Held a long weekend of activities. On Friday and Saturday, Howard University Hospital's Cancer Center assigned physicians to participate on six radio talk shows. Listeners were able to call in to ask questions. Radio shows also alerted the city that it was Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In addition, October 19th was "Pink Ribbon Sunday" in 22 churches throughout the city.

Atlanta, GA -- Started celebrating with a kick-off in August. A"Pink Tea" party was used to recruit planning committee members from churches across the city. In September, to build interest, a community parade was held for the purpose of promoting "Pink Ribbon Sunday" in October. The event featured a "Battle of the Bands", where mothers and grandmothers turned out to watch their children compete. A health fair and prayer breakfast were held. There was also an educational workshop that included the Governor of Georgia, Georgia's Director of Women's Health, The Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness and the FDA/Office of Women's Health. The Atlanta community held Breast Health Promotion events during the entire month of October.

Dallas, TX -- Began it's activities with an event titled "Gran Conferencia Espiritual y Concierto". Over 600 people from various churches throughout the area attended. This event was conducted by "Congregacion Hispana de Personas Mayores" a very active Hispanic/Latino Senior Citizen's community organization. This "grass roots" project established a partnership with "Congregacion", the American Cancer Society (ACS) and Parkland Health & Hospital System to leverage resources to reach the Hispanic/Latino church communities.

Messages about the need for early detection were discussed and delivered via flyers, pink ribbons, pamphlets, bags and fans. The fan was chosen since it is a traditional symbol in African American and Hispanic churches. On the front of the fans were choir figures, a large pink ribbon and the message, "Unidos En La Lucha Contra El Cancer Del Seno" (United in the Fight Against Breast Cancer). The back entitled "Esparanza y Vida" (Hope & Life) contained more detailed messages about relying on spirituality to fight breast cancer. Hundreds of fans were distributed and used by all attendees, including men. A "Pink Ribbon/Tell-a-Friend" Clergy Luncheon was attended by sixty women. Pink ribbons, candles, flyers, balloons, pencils, bags, fans and brochures were given to participants wanting to conduct a "Pink Ribbon Sunday" observance in their church. The flyers and fans were translated and reproduced in Spanish for citywide distribution.

This Guide -- Is a result of these activities. It was developed in response to requests from groups all over the country that asked for a basic how--to--guide for creating "Pink Ribbon Sunday" activities. We recognize that October is not the only time to deliver this message. We hope that your church will get involved and educate your community throughout the year. Many additional ideas and/or events that come naturally to churches can be done. We have included some of those year--round activities as additional suggestions.

Benefits to Your Community -- Here are just a few.

• Reaching women and their families right where they live
• Developing new partnerships with groups like the American Cancer Society
• Creating a "Pink Ribbon Wave" of women and men educators and supporters
• Saving Lives

We encourage you to join our team and develop your own program. We look forward to hearing about your program and success stories.