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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 5:05 p.m., Monday, October 1, 2007

PINK First Friday raises breast cancer awareness

Advertiser Staff

Chinatown businesses will be painting the town pink on Friday, October 5 for PINK First Friday, to help kick-off breast cancer awareness month. The centerpiece of the event will focus around hot pink orchid pi giveaways, which will be handed out to passersby by Giinko Marischino dancers from 6 to 8 p.m.

PINK First Friday will harness the collaborative power of galleries and related businesses in the area united for a cause. The popularity of First Friday will be used as a platform, and the message will be delivered with spectacle by some of our community's most talented performance artists.

The purpose of the event is to draw attention to an important issue through the arts. Since breast cancer affects so many people in some form or another, we want to promote a better understanding and open and healthy discussion about the issue.

Attached to each pink orchid pin will be a coupon for a breast cancer awareness informational session and free yoga class at Open Space Yoga in Chinatown. Breast cancer experts from Kapiolani Medical Center and The Queen's Medical Center will be there to introduce facts about breast cancer, including ways to prevent, survive and cope with breast cancer, as well as how to conduct self-breast exams.

Following the informational session, a free yoga class will be offered to promote better health and awareness of one's body. Various studies have shown that exercise reduces the risk of breast cancer, and yoga in particular, is believed to improve the health of breast cancer patients.

Some success will be measurable through the numbers who attend the class for more information. Area businesses are pulling together with financial support and their own forms of contributions and artistic activity.

Special activities planned for Keiki Photography, Tea at 1024, The Cathedral Gallery and Smith Union Bar.

According to the American Cancer Society Web site, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States. About 178,480 women in the United States will be found to have invasive breast cancer in 2007, and about 40,460 women will die from the disease this year. The chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer at some point in her life is about 1 in 8. However, chances of dying from breast cancer are about 1 in 35. Currently, there are two and a half million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

For more information about breast cancer, visit www.cancer.org/docroot/lrn/lrn_0.asp.

PINK First Friday is an inaugural breast cancer awareness event inspired and sponsored by the family of Jo Anne Okudara, who passed away this year from the disease. The event is a tribute to her life and memory, in hopes of empowering women and men with the knowledge, support and courage to fight this disease and continue to celebrate life.

Contact information, The ARTS at Marks Garage: phone 521-2903; fax 521-2923; email info@artsatmarks.com; online www.artsatmarks.com