The Northwest Indiana Breast Care Center is frequently hosting events to educate the community on the dangers of cancer and the importance of yearly screenings. On Thursday night, they teamed up with People Helping People Agency (PHP) for the area’s first ever Pink Party.
PHP, which began in California, has now grown to have locations in 49 states. Through their financial advising regarding retirement, mortgage protection, and debt relief, PHP strives to advice people from all walks of life. The company as a whole decided to implement a series of Pink Parties nationwide that would raise funds for breast cancer awareness, as well as educate community members across the country about their options when it comes to mammography. The company has already raised over $15,000 through the parties, and they are really just getting started.
“We take things very seriously with the education side of financial end of things,” said PHP Marketing Director Veronica Terraza. “A lot of lack of financial education leads to stress and that has to do with our health as well. We took initiative as a company. We have a company of ladies, and it means a lot to us to be able to educate more women both on the financial and health side of things. We are hoping to establish a great relationship with the them to do this Pink Party again in the very near future.”
It seemed as though many PHP employees had personal motivation for the agency’s mission to help the community with more than just financial needs. Field Associate Teara Golden shared her own story with the guests, explaining that she found interest in the business after her mother passed away due to cancer.
Golden’s mother only had 18 months between diagnosis and passing. The family did not know how to plan a funeral, let alone afford one. Golden discovered that her mother’s insurance was not able to cover all of the funeral costs, leaving her father with just $300 after all the bills were paid. This prompted both her and her husband to become PHP employees.
“I’m very passionate about what I do,” said Golden. “I want to make sure that no family goes through what my family went through. We can’t change the grieving process. You can’t take back a life once it is lost. But I would like to educate as many people as I can about being prepared so that your family can grieve the loss and not be burdened by financial obstacles at the same time.”
The evening began with dinner and a silent auction, followed by brief words given by Jennifer Sanders, the Manager of the Northwest Indiana Breast Care Center, as well as a doctor and a breast cancer survivor from Methodist Hospitals. The trio reiterated the importance of yearly screenings from a young age. Sanders even mentioned that she taught her own daughter how to do breast exams when she was just four-years-old. Her point: it is this kind of proactiveness that can prevent breast cancer from taking someone’s life.
“One of the biggest things we are finding is that Lake County has one of the lowest screening rates in the country,” said Sanders. “Only 52% of women are being screened. These are not only our uninsured or underinsured. These are our working women. A lot of the people that are coming tonight are from the working population, and they don’t have time to have these tests done. We’re here educating and saying that all of the professional success does not happen if you are not healthy. I am always here to remind people that if you are not taking care of your personal self, the rest of this does not work.
Guests were able to speak with multiple employees of the Breast Care Center to gain insight into all that is available to them. The center also donated a free mammogram for the silent auction.
