New Jersey is thinking pink during the month of October!

It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and this year, more than ever, it seems there are plenty of great ways to join the fight for the cure.

Play for P.I.N.K. (Prevention, Immediate diagnosis, New technology, Knowledge) is staging golf championships on October 2 at Preakness Hills Country Club in Wayne.  Play for P.I.N.K. fundraises through sporting events such as golf tournaments at participating clubs and 100% of money raised goes to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.   Thirty-one NJ golf clubs will have champs playing in the PFP “NJ playoffs.”  Visit  www.playforpink.org or www.bcrfcure.org to donate.

At Hammonton Lake Park on October 7 you can run in memory of  Brittany Rodio, a youngster killed in a 1998 car accident ( www.brittanyrodio.com).  Founder Joe Rodio told us that this 5K and 1 mile Fun Run/Walk benefits Brittany’s Foundation, as well as www.breastcancer.org and Living Beyond Breast Cancer (www.lbbc.org). The Rodios also donate some of the proceeds to  the  Alcove Center for Grieving Children (www.thealcove.org ) a charity that helps kids cope with the loss of a loved one to cancer. 

Marjorie Kaplan from the American Cancer Society e-mailed us about the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walks; there are several in the state in October. You can participate by clicking on: http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/site/PageServer?pagename=MS07_EA_eventlisting

With no registration fee or fundraising minimums it’s a great way to get involved at your own pace.

Here’s a fundraiser that thinks out of the box!  Beginning September 27 on Ebay (http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZflorislondon_usa),  Floris London will be auctioning off the last 60 bottles available worldwide of their classic No. 89 men’s fragrance.  25% of each sale benefits the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (www.komen.org).

You can join another auction on behalf of  Komen www.cmarket.com/catalog/landingPage.do?vhost=njapinktieball  in advance of the North Jersey affiliate’s very glamorous Pink Tie Ball ( www.njapinktieball.org/)  on October 27th.

So dress up, walk or run, dig into your wallet—you’ll join thousands who are making a difference and thinking pink! 

Sandra Kenoff authored this article for NJ My Way.