By Betsy Finklea
LAKE VIEW—The Lake View PTO brought the “Pink Is Powerful” message to students, teachers, and parents at their first annual “Pink Is Powerful” Day at the Lake View Elementary and Lake View Middle Schools held in recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

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PTO President Labreen Bethea said this was an opportunity to empower the children and give them a chance to give back.
All girls were asked to wear pink shirts, and all boys were asked to wear white shirts on Friday. All students were asked to bring a $1 donation. A total of $370 was collected.
The PTO distributed candy to the children who participated. Special needs classes were given books because they could not be given candy due to the dietary restrictions of some of the students. Bethea said local businesses donated baked goods for the event.
In addition, when parents came to pick up students on Friday, they were greeted by friendly PTO volunteers who had bags of information prepared to give to parents about breast cancer awareness. This material was donated by Barbara Rodriguez of the American Cancer Society.
Bethea said they hope that parents will use the information provided to become more knowledgeable about the disease. She said the more informed that people are that the more likely the disease will have a higher survival rate.
The event was deemed a success at both schools.
According to the American Cancer Society website, “In 2009, an estimated 192,370 women in the United States were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and about 40,610 women were expected to die from the disease. About 1,910 men in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer.” For more information about breast cancer or the American Cancer Society, visit www. cancer.org.
Additional photos of this event appear on our website, www.thedillonherald.com.