MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Station youth gathered to participate in a walk to observe Breast Cancer Awareness
Month here Oct. 9.
Children affiliated with Matthew C. Perry Elementary School, the Boys and Girls Club, and Youth and Teen Center were among the participants in the walk.
The first walk was held Oct. 2, and such walks will continue every Friday afternoon in October. The walks are held in conjunction with ongoing health education programs at the Youth and Teen Center. The Youth and Teen Center sponsors several leadership and service programs for teens, like the Keystone Club and Smart Girls programs.
The awareness gives the children, especially teenage girls, a safe forum to “talk about breast cancer,” and “tell us if they have any relatives going through it,” said Maida Kroell, a lead program assistant with the Youth and Teen Center.
The awareness also encourages children to remind their parents to take preventative action against the disease.
“I think it’s a great program. I think it‘s good to raise the awareness, especially in the younger girls,” said Vee McCay, a lead program assistant with the Youth and Teen Center.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women.”
In 2005, 186,467 women and 1,764 men were diagnosed with breast cancer. 41,116 women and 375 men died from breast cancer in the same year.
McCay said the awareness is important because breast cancer has been known to strike at an early age in some people, and even in young men.
“A lot of males think they can’t get it, but a lot of males can get breast cancer,” McCay added.
For more information about upcoming Breast Cancer Awareness Walks, contact Marine Corps Community Services at 253-5549. For more information about Breast Cancer, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site at cdc.gov.