Purple bows show commitment to fight cancer
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on March 1, 2004 1:56 PM
If you're wondering why purple bows are suddenly showing up all over Wayne County, it's because it's that time of year again to sell them for the Relay for Life.
The Relay is the annual fund-raiser for the Wayne County Unit of the American Cancer Society. Anyone can purchase a purple bow and put it up on a mailbox, home or business to show support for the event.
Jo Heidenreich, purple bow chairman, said this year's goal is to sell 5,000 purple bows. Last year, more than 4,000 were sold.
The bows are $10 each and may be ordered from any Relay for Life team captain and team members or through Mrs. Heidenreich at Parker Advertising, 1907 E. Ash St.
Mrs. Heidenreich said anyone can purchase a bow, whether it be an individual, an organization or a business. "You can put them on your mailbox, door, lamp post, anywhere," she said.
She said the purple bows were sold last year while the yellow ribbon campaign was going on to show support for the military troops. She said neither sale hurt the other.
In past years, the purple bows were made by volunteers. But last year, the Cancer Society began using pull ribbons. They come in a packet and are flat. When you pull a string, they balloon into pretty ribbons, said Mrs. Heindenreich.
"By doing this, we've been able to eliminate all the coordination between getting the ribbon to the women who made them, getting them made and getting them to the ones who ordered them," she said. "And we'd have big trash bags of bows that had been made sitting around waiting to be delivered. It took up a lot of space."
Mrs. Heidenreich encourages everyone to show support for those fighting cancer by purchasing a purple bow. "I think it means a lot to these people to ride around and see the purple bows," she said. "And it means a lot to the people who are involved in the Relay for Life."
Money raised from the sale of the purple bows goes to the American Cancer Society for research, education and patient services, according to Mrs. Heidenreich. She said a lot of that money stays in Wayne County.
The Relay for Life will be held May 14 and 15 at Eastern Wayne High School.