GRAY POLICE DEPARTMENT
The uniforms of Gray Police Officers are a little more colorful in October with pink badges that reflect their support of breast cancer awareness.
GPD Chief Adam Lowe said his officers are proud to wear the pink badges in October and like when they get to tell people why they are wearing them.
“It’s for a good cause. It started last year when Officer Daniel Pointer lost his mother to breast cancer, but almost everyone who works with us have had someone affected by it,” Lowe said.
The chief said the sister of another officer was just recently diagnosed.
An Oct. 1 Facebook post by the GPD announced that the officers would again be donning the pink badges to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“Please urge your wives, mothers, daughters, aunts, grandmothers, and all the women who are important to you to self-exam,” the post stated.
Lowe said, when Pointer brought up the idea last year, all the officers were immediately on board.
“Our hope is the badges will help spread the awareness of this terrible disease,” he added.
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is observed every October. Breast cancer is a disease that affects both men and women and is among the most common cancers.
According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, one in eight women will develop invasive breast cancer in her lifetime. Next year, new breast cancer diagnoses are expected to number more than 200,000 for women and more than 2,000 for men.
Currently there is not sufficient knowledge on the causes of breast cancer; therefore, early detection of the disease remains the cornerstone of breast cancer control.
When breast cancer is detected early, and if adequate diagnosis and treatment are available, there is a good chance that breast cancer can be cured. The majority of deaths occur in low- and middle-income families, where most women with breast cancer are diagnosed in late stages due mainly to lack of awareness on early detection and barriers to health services.
For more information about breast cancer awareness is available online at www.nationalbreastcancer.org.
