October Marks the 29th National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This October will be the 29th National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) and to celebrate, we’ll be putting the Medline Breast Cancer Awareness Rollator on sale. Not only does this rollator look awesome in bright pink, its manufacturer, Medline, is a major donor to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Every rollator sold raises awareness, and part of the proceeds are contributed to breast cancer awareness campaigns.

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month was started back in 1985 by the American Cancer Society and Imperial Chemical Industries with the goal of promoting mammography as the most effective way to fight breast cancer.

In 1991, the Susan G. Komen Foundation handed out pink ribbons to participants in a New York Race that raised money for breast cancer survivors. By 1993, the pink ribbon was established as a symbol for breast cancer, and today it’s recognizable internationally.

In 2009, the third week of October was designated Male Breast Cancer Awareness Week to raise awareness for this rare but still very dangerous form of breast cancer.

Many, many things have been done in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness month. The NFL has added pink to its football fields. Landmark buildings such as the White House and Tokyo Tower have been illuminated in pink. But by far the most common promotions are the many walks and runs that take place across the country and around the world.

The most famous of these is the Race for the Cure, which actually predates Breast Cancer Awareness month by 2 years. The race went from 800 participants in Dallas in 1983, to 1.3 million participants across several major US cities in 2002, to the gigantic global event that it is today.