By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
The borough of Bradley Beach is seeking volunteers to make this year’s Paint the Town Pink campaign in May its best yet.
This will be the third time the town has participated in the event, which raises awareness and collects funds for breast cancer prevention, but in previous years participation has been limited.
Michelle Whille , Deputy Registrar Vital Statistics, is co-chair of the campaign along with Denise Martin-Masi, a town resident and member of the first aid squad. Martin-Masa is also an employee of Riverview Medical Center, which is part of Meridian Health, sponsors of the annual event.
Many towns in both Monmouth and Ocean counties participate in the annual Paint the Town Pink campaign.
For the entire month of May the borough will be known as Bradley Pink.
Although planning for the campaign is still in the early stages Whille and Martin-Masi will be contacting businesses in the community and asking them to participate by decorating their establishments in pink, holding contests and collecting donations.
They are also looking for volunteers to decorate the fence at the Recreation Center field and possibly decorate the beachfront as well.
A waffle ball game is scheduled for May 22 at the recreation center when the First Aid Squad will play members of the police department.
Bradley Beach First aiders will be helping at the event along with the campaign’s committee members.
All proceeds from the campaign will be given to Meridian for Breast Health and Awareness.
Participating towns signing up with Meridian Health by April 13 will receive prepared kits including pink items such as tote bag, bows, piggy bank for donations, window clings, posters, flag and buttons along with information on participating in the program.
The Paint the Town Pink program began in Red Bank in 2007 when for one week the town was renamed Pink Bank to encourage women to have an annual mammograms.
The goals of the program, in addition to encouraging annual mammography, is to raise money for uninsured women to have the exam done and to positively impact the lives of women in all communities.
The program promotes early detection as a woman’s best defense against breast cancer.
For more information visit www.PaintTheTownPink.com or email PaintTheTownPink@meridianhealth.com.
