According to the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer is undoubtedly the most common cancer in women worldwide, both in the developed and developing countries. In low- and middle-income countries, the incidence has been rising steadily in the last years due to increase in life expectancy, increased urbanisation and adoption of western lifestyles.
Founded in 2019 by Ecolint students from LGB, the Pink Club has been raising funds for HUG and ETHZ to promote breast cancer awareness and research. After Romana and Claudia (LGB class of 2021) first participated in a successful Pink Day bake sale, they decided to apply to take over the project for the following year. When they received the news that they would be coordinating Pink Day 2020, they immediately got to work, finding the best ways to optimise their fundraising campaign, planning each detail to the last bit.
Using social media to spread the word as much awareness as possible and create a major impact, the team used their own platforms not only to reach out to members from the school, but from all around the world. They also created a PayPal account and displayed it on their personal Instagram accounts, allowing external donors to contribute as well.
Unfortunately, no project comes without its challenges. Their biggest challenge was when they found out that they could no longer organise a bake sale because of Covid-19 restrictions. This sudden shift would not only break with the Pink Day bake sale tradition, it would also mean less visibility to raise awareness and reach their goal of donating a sizable amount to the selected organisations. However, the team did not back down - they decided to simply sell candy during every mentor class in 45 minutes and ask people to donate from the kindness of their hearts. Thanks to the support of such a generous community, they were able to raise CHF 2’000!
“When we started planning this project, I began to realise how challenging it was and how much work was ahead of us. Taking care of Pink Day is not only about organising a bake sale and giving the money to the foundation. It consists of taking care of EVERYTHING. When we realised that our only option was to go around classes to present our project and raise money, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine we were going to collect 2’000 CHF.”
- Claudia, LGB class of 2021
As the girls will be graduating this year, they wanted to make sure that the Pink Day project would be taken over by other passionate students. Following a mailing to everyone at the LGB secondary school advertising for the role, Claudia and Romana were pleased to receive many applications; and after careful consideration, they decided to pass the project and tradition over to a group of three girls from year 12, Juliette, Aya and Lara. So stay tuned for Pink Day events in the coming years!
“I really never thought that we would raise this sum of money, considering we were not allowed to do a traditional bake sale due to Covid-19. Although, I am extremely glad that we broke this tradition and proved not only to ourselves but to future generations handling this project that with the generosity of our fellow classmates and the outside population, anything is possible to help a good cause!”
- Romana, LGB class of 2021