Pink Azaleas
My name is Jo McMahan. I have been an employee at Hardeman County Correctional Facility in Whiteville, Tenn. for 13 years. This is one of the most important stories I will ever tell about myself, and it's not about me at all…this is my 'pink' story.
I lost a co-worker 14 years ago to breast cancer, and it changed my life forever. SHE changed my life in one of the most positive ways I have ever experienced; down so deep even I don't know the 'why's or how's' myself. I was on a team the very first year the county had a Relay for Life event in 1997, and we did it for Cathy. I was active in the team at HCCF from 1998 until it disbanded a few years ago. I have never been touched by cancer myself, nor has anyone else close to me until this year. My uncle was just diagnosed with Stage four colon cancer two months ago….the fight continues.
When I opened my own business, I knew that I wanted to get back in the swing, so we had our first team in 2008 and raised $5,000. We were the Apple Dumplin Gang, and became famous for our homemade apple dumplin's. We won awards for Best Campsite Décor, Best Dessert, Rookie Team of the Year, Most Torch Sales, Most Luminary Sales, and Team Spirit Award. In 2009 we were the Little Hatchie Gang. As a band of gangsters and flappers, we raised $2500. We involved employees, clients, families of clients and any 'John Doe' we could grab by the shirt tail! The business closed June 30 of last year, but several of my employees let me know that they wanted to be a part of our team 'if we did it again.'
WE DID IT AGAIN! The Pink Azaleas is our 2010 Relay for Life team. It is a group of several individuals who joined us (myself & Brian Mills) to form a team this year. Six of us are former employees of our assisted living, one is a friend (this is his third year), one is a former client at the assisted living (she now lives in Selmer), and two members are new (a co-worker who lost her mother-in-law to breast cancer and the other is my clerk who had both breasts removed last fall).
The Pink Azaleas name came from my commitment to Breast Cancer Awareness…ALL THINGS PINK! Our team theme for 2010 is 'Where there is life, there is hope.' I am co-chairing the team with my partner in life and love, Brian Mills. Brian has set up a page on Facebook, where we encourage our friends to become 'fans' of the Pink Azaleas. We are posting pictures from our past teams, and all sorts of info on current events that we are involved in. The Facebook page is very popular with team members, family and friends. We just celebrated our 200th fan with a 'Pink Ribbon' gift package and have posted her picture on the page. The goal is awareness; to be sure that everyone knows who we are and why we're here. We also have a web site, pinkazaleas.org, to promote our team and the Relay activities in the county. It includes a 'dedication' page to honor individuals, an activities page on upcoming events, and an 'about us' page with pictures.
The first event of the year was held on February 27 in Bolivar. The 'Celebrity Waiter Event' is very popular in the community already and this is only it's second year. Last year we hosted two tables: the 'Breast Cancer Awareness' table and our 'Gangster' table.
This year the Pink Azaleas hosted four tables; the 'Breast Cancer Awareness' table (pink and silver), the 'Pink Azalea' table (an elegant garden party affair), the 'Glitz and Glamour' table (red and gold glam) and the 'Country Club' table (whiskey bottles and cowboy boots). Our guests were encouraged to dress to compliment their table.
Last year we raised over $1,100 at this event with two tables, and this year we raised over $3,200! We won the award for 'Most Money Raised for a Table' and 'Most Money Raised for a Team.' There were four of us dressed as formal waiters decked out with pink ties, two 'bar maids' and one huge country music celebrity….the famous 'Johnny Hank'. Johnny 'Hank' Weems is a good friend who sang and interacted with guests to encourage their 'giving' ways!!! He won the 'People's Choice Award.' Each of our guests received a thank you gift from us in bags that matched their tables.
We are selling luminaries, Relay torches and space on our dedication page to raise money. Future events for the Pink Azaleas include a bake sale, jewelry and food sales, and Breast Cancer Awareness gift item sales. We are hoping to sell pink Azaleas if we can get them before our April 30th Relay event, and we did a mail-out campaign to past supporters. Our goal this year was $2,500, but we've already surpassed that in one night!
If you have read this, we've done what we set out to do…we've raised awareness. If you have never been touched by cancer, then count your blessings. If you don't do anything to help, it's on you…..buy a cookie, participate in a walk, just do something. Thank you.