Cancer Awareness

Country music superstar Martina McBride will sing the national anthem before Sunday's Ravens-Jets nationally televised game and she will be joined by breast cancer survivors and those undergoing treatment. It's part of the Ravens' effort to help promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month. McBride's new single, “I'm Gonna Love You Through It,” offers hope and inspiration to those who have been affected by breast cancer, according to the team.  Ravens staff, family members and volunteers from the American Cancer Society will distribute 40,000 pink ribbons to fans as they enter the stadium Sunday.

Seeing pink throughout October makes sisters Cara and Mary Kate Facchina feel fortunate. More than most teenagers, the Mount de Sales tennis players understand the importance of the pink initiatives supported by many high school teams during Breast Cancer Awareness Month to raise money for the cause and emphasize the need for early detection. Had it not been for early detection, their mother, Eileen Facchina, might not be coaching Cara and Mary Kate on the tennis court today. Seven years ago, Eileen Facchina was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Goucher College will be the staging area for the 2011 American Cancer Society Relay For Life for northern Baltimore County, Friday, June 17 into Saturday, June 18. The opening ceremony is at Friday at 7 p.m. at the Goucher track. Participants can register at the time of the event, which will feature walkers from teams mounted by communities in Towson, Cockeysville and Hunt Valley, who will go round the clock to raise money to battle cancer. Individuals and teams will camp out near the track, with the goal of keeping at least one team member on the track or pathway at all times throughout the evening.

Please stop reading this if you are not interested in my breasts. (Now there's a topic sentence that might not make it past an editor.) I suppose I have always been very interested in my breasts. As a preteen, I anticipated their arrival, and it turns out that — like most awesome things in my life — they showed up late. It took me a while to get used to them, but pretty soon I was letting them do their thing, which is exist on my front and command a weird sort of attention, as if they were disconnected from the rest of me. Before having breasts, for example, no one really stared at my ears or eyebrows, so I had no way of comprehending this strange new focus on my torso.

Value City of Glen Burnie, the American Cancer Society and Phi Beta Sigma will sponsor a Cancer Awareness Day observance from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The Cancer Awareness Day event is part of the American Cancer Society's collaboration with the fraternity's national project, Sigma's Waging War Against Cancer. The event is open to the public. Value City is at 7700 Ritchie Highway, Glen Burnie. Information: Phi Beta Sigma, 410-669-8683; or Value City, 410- 553-6500. People Honored: Donald Smith of Glen Burnie was honored by the Maryland Transportation Authority for his outstanding job performance last year.

Kim Wright can dial her friends on a pink phone, dressed in a pink outfit, perhaps embellished with a pink button or two or three. And when she surfs the Internet, most likely searching for more you-know-what, she's doing it on a carnation-colored laptop. When Wright, a breast cancer survivor from Reisterstown, tried to persuade her husband to buy a TV in her signature shade, she perhaps should have worn her sparkly, alluring rose gold necklace with the charm looped into the shape of an advocacy ribbon.

Reservoir and Howard joined together last week to help raise money for the Side-Out Foundation, which works to raise awareness of breast cancer through volleyball activities. Reservoir coach Carole Ferrante, whose team organized the event, said the Gators set a goal of $2,000 and by the end of the night had surpassed that mark. "We don't know exactly how much we've raised," Ferrante said. "It was over $2,000 at the school, but people can also give online, and that fund drive is still going on. So we're raising our goal to $3,000."

Harford Gymnastics, along with 2,600 other athletes from across the country, competed at the Pink Invitational in Philadelphia, Pa.., Feb. 22 to 24 to support Unite for Her and breast cancer awareness. Harford's Level 7 team shined, taking first place in a field of tough competitors. Additionally, Harford took second at Levels 6 and 8, third at Level 5 and fourth at Level 9. The entire Harford team (Levels 4 to 9) had 22 athletes score above 36 in all-around and four gymnasts tallied all-around scores above 37. A new club beam record was set at Level 7 and one of Harford's Level 9 athletes was recognized with the Strength of Character Award.