FAIRHOPE, Alabama—What began as a joke about no laughing matter has become a vital community project to fight breast cancer and help local women facing that disease.

Two Fairhope women, one a breast cancer survivor and the other her best friend, had calendar-style photographs taken of themselves of the kind you might see hanging on the wall of a motorcycle shop, which is where the photo shoot took place last winter.

“It started as a joke to boost her spirit because she was having such a hard time with her cancer,” Debra Rosenfield said this week of friend and breast cancer survivor Sharon George. “It’s a joke because we’re women in our 50’s and we wouldn’t do calendar photos at our age.”

When Debra and Sharon appeared wearing matching Harley Davidson T-Shirts after the photo shoot and joked about “the calendar” they had just “shot,” some friends took them seriously.

“When people said they wanted to buy a calendar, I whispered to Sharon, ‘What are we going to do?’” Rosenfield said. “And she said, ‘Maybe we should do one and give the money to the breast cancer fight.’ And that’s how it started. And then it got huge, just huge.”

A number of people and organizations joined these friends’ project. The result was the production of 500 copies of Breast Cancer Calendar 2012, which is being offered for sale at various events throughout Baldwin County.

“Sharon and I are best friends and decided to do this, but not as part of any organization,” Rosenfield said. “We got all our girlfriends together, all Fairhope local women who either had breast cancer, had a mother or sister die of breast cancer, or a close friend affected by breast cancer. Every woman in the calendar either had breast cancer or a friend or relative who has. At the bottom of every page it tells the story of their cancer. “

The calendars cost $15 and will be sold at a variety of upcoming events, including the following:

• Noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at Champy’s Chicken in Daphne.

• 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 16, at Lulu’s at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores

• 7 to 10 p.m., Friday, Oct. 21, at Fly Creek Café in Fairhope.

• Other events are being planned for November, which will be announced soon.

Rosenfield said proceeds from the calendars are earmarked for local organizations that help women with breast cancer.

“We’re giving to charities like the Church on the Eastern Shore’s Hope Center, Bosom Buddies (a local Fairhope group that helps women with breast cancer), and the Orange Beach Fire Department’s chapter of Pink Heals, the charity for women who need medical expenses covered for breast cancer costs,” she said. “Every dime that we raise stays locally in Baldwin County and for local women who are affected by the financial burdens of breast cancer.”

For more information, contact Rosenfield at 251-377-8541 or ndrosenfield@yahoo.com.