The kind of shopping that saves lives
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This is the month when everybody is joining the fight against breast cancer. The aim is to empower breast cancer survivors by ensuring quality care for them and most importantly, raise funds to energize science to find the cure. Statistics show that 10 million women around the globe could die of breast cancer in the next 25 years if a cure is not discovered soon. In 2005, the Philippine Cancer Society said there were 14,043 new breast cancer patients who registered.
Breast cancer survivors say that they wouldn’t wish this on their mortal enemy. My lady friend who had a mastectomy plunged into a depression so bad that it eventually killed her. She could not bear to see her once shapely body ravaged and deformed by this deadly disease. She lost the battle because she lost the will to live. Those that survived it fought for their lives. They did not allow breast cancer to defeat them. They rose from this curse victorious but still fighting for their sisters who could lose the battle. “Losing her breasts is very demeaning to a woman,” says breast cancer survivor Bettina Osmena. “Breasts define a woman’s shape. Breasts make a woman feel sexy and sensual. Having breasts to feed her baby connects a mother to her child. So let us stop the carnage on women’s breasts by raising funds to aid different research programs. My fellow survivors in the I Can Serve Foundation will do our part to help raise funds for breast cancer research.”
This October Bettina and her fellow volunteers from I Can Serve, Kara Alikpala, Ina Vergel de Dios and Ria Romero, organized “Tickled Pink,” the bazaar with an edge. It will be on October 19 and 20 at the Rockwell Tent. Last year’s success inspired the organizers to do a repeat performance this year.
Flushed with success from their event “Pink Kitchen” last August, these ladies are very busy organizing another fun and memorable event by bringing hard-to-come-by products and vendors under one roof. I Can Serve is committed to raising the bar once again and I believe them. I have been to all their events and it just gets better. They have grown from last year’s 18 vendors to 48 vendors this year. All of the participants have pledged to give 25 percent of their gross sales to I Can Serve.
I decided to get a booth and sell children’s clothes that are not seen anywhere in
Other new participants this year are Isabel Lovina, who will sell beautiful smock dresses made in Negros Occidental; and Arden Classic and Design Menu, who make some of the most stylish home accessories normally sold only in high-end department stores overseas. There are also trendy handbags by exporters TaliMaya and Ferrimar, designer-brand clothes by sisters Camille Genuino and Giselle Eduque, La Copa clothing line by Isabel Roces, and Christmas décor from Buena Mano and Le Font.
What really sets this bazaar apart is the tenacious search of the organizers to get suppliers and new participants who do not have any store outlets and who offer new products, as it gets boring seeing the same products sold in every bazaar.
A bazaar is not complete without food outlets, and this year, “Tickled Pink” has expanded its food offerings. Le Soufflé holds top billing this year. Top-of-her-trade chef Jesse Sincioco has prepared a very special salad bar, which they do not offer in their outlets on a regular basis. She is doing it specially for “Tickled Pink.”
The Farm, a staunch supporter of I Can Serve, is returning this year. Aside from their spa products, they will also offer some spa services for tired shoppers.
Let us do our Christmas shopping early this year and do our part in supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month by supporting the “Tickled Pink” bazaar next Friday and Saturday at the Rockwell Tent. There are organizations that are dedicated to curing breast cancer at every stage, from the causes to the cures, to the pain and anxiety of every moment in between. I Can Serve is one such organization. For more information, log on to their website at www.icanserve.net or e-mail them at icanserve@yahoo.com. Their hotline is 687-3942.
