SPANISH FORT, Ala.—Have you noticed the color pink has been a little more visible this month when you’re out and about?

October is breast cancer awareness month and Spanish Fort Elementary celebrated Friday by wearing pink shirts and drinking pink lemonade during snack time for its annual Pink Day.

Students gave a $1 donation—to wear a pink shirt over jeans—and a $1 donation for the pink lemonade.

“Our Pink Day was a huge success on Friday,” principal Rebecca Comer said.  “We raised approximately $890, and we raised awareness of the importance of finding a cure for breast cancer.”

Proceeds will benefit the school’s Relay for Life team—the American Cancer Society’s signature activity—Comer said.

“Teachers, in an age-appropriate fashion, explained the reason behind this effort; it is very personal to all of us right now,” Comer said. “We wish that it were not so, but we have been hit hard by this disease both in our faculty and our parents.”

Pink Day wasn’t all about allowing students to be out of uniform for the day; it also helped students learn about giving.

“It is important to us at Spanish Fort Elementary to instill in our students an understanding that acts of charity and caring are a big part of becoming a successful human being,” Comer said. 

The American Cancer Society works to raise awareness of the importance to have a mammogram—an x-ray exam of the breast—done annually, according to www.cancer.org, the society’s official Web site.

Mammograms, on average, can detect 80 to 90 percent of breast cancer in women who don’t have symptoms, according to a news release from the society.

The society’s goal is to try to get as many women over 40 as possible to have a mammogram. The procedure takes about 20 minutes and involves slight compression of the breast that lasts only a few seconds, according to the society.

The pressure helps spread breast tissue apart for the mammogram to make a clear image of the tissue, the site said.

An estimated 3,740 Alabama females develop breast cancer  and an estimated 720 of those will die from the disease each year, according to a 2006 study of Alabama Cancer Facts and Figures by the Alabama Statewide Cancer Registry.

Out of a Baldwin County count of 1,022 in 2006, an incidence rate of women with breast cancer was calculated to 131.6, according to statistics from www.adph.org, the Alabama Department of Public Health’s official Web site.

When many think about breast cancer, it is thought to primarily be a disease prominent in females, however, males are at risk, too.

Males do not have to worry about a yearly mammogram but should see a doctor if they notice any changes in their breast area, according to Mary Kathryn Walker, communications and marketing specialist for the American Cancer Society.

Out of 443 Alabama men, a 2.3 rate of male-based breast cancer occurred. For women, out of a 34,538 count, a 137.2 rate was calculated by the department for its 2007 annual report, according to the Bureau of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease.

Screening mammograms are designed for women who have no symptoms so the screening will find cancer too small to be felt during a breast exam by a doctor or oneself, the Web site said.

Women in their 20s and 30s should see a healthcare professional once a year for a clinical breast exam—which is a complement to a mammogram where the woman can discuss changes in her breast with her doctor—and should be performed about every three years, according to the Web site.

A breast-self exam is important for women in their 20s. Women should see their doctor to learn the proper technique to look for any change or breast lump, the site said. 

For more information on breast cancer—or cancer-related events in the area—visit www.cancer.org, the American Cancer Society’s official Web site.