Belmont Abbey College Students Fight For Breast Cancer Awareness, Raise Money for Research

BELMONT, NC —- According to the American Cancer Society, as many as 211,240 women in the United States will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer this year alone. As the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women today (after lung cancer), experts predict that approximately 1 in 7 women run the risk of developing breast cancer during their lifetime.

And if you thought breast cancer was just something that should concern women – think again. It is estimated that about 1,690 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer before the end of 2005.

Facing such staggering statistics, it would be fair to say the most of us know someone – a mother, sister, family member, friend, co-worker – who has survived or is currently battling this devastating disease. That is why a group of students at the Abbey is encouraging others to Think Pink this fall and join the “Lids for Life” campaign.

Beginning September 1, 2005, students on campus will collect pink foil lids on Yoplait® yogurt products and help promote breast cancer awareness. Each lid collected will translate into 10 cents donated by Yoplait® to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

“There is never enough that we can do,” says Dr. Karen Abbondanza de la Motte, director of the First-Year Symposium and organizer of the “Lids for Life” campaign at the Abbey. “Over the years, I have had so many students who were somehow touched by the disease.”

“I think it is imperative as teachers that we be concerned with educating the whole person, especially in doing types of service like this for the community. This is a natural thing for all successful individuals to do – they look for opportunities to serve others,” says Abbondanza de la Motte.

Students at the Abbey can drop off pink Yoplait® product lids into bins located in the Haid Theatre, Office of Student Life, Stowe Hall (Room 103), the Student Commons, Health Services, and The International Business Suite in Stowe Hall.

The group will collect lids now through the month of October (national cancer awareness month).

Ranked one of the best comprehensive colleges in the Southeast by U.S. News and World Report and The Princeton Review, Belmont Abbey College celebrates excellence and virtue steeped in its 129-year Catholic Benedictine heritage. The liberal arts College is home to students from over 34 states and 26 countries and welcomes everyone from any background or tradition committed to this vision of excellence and virtue. The campus consists of the College, the Monastery and the Abbey Basilica, which can be found on its sprawling 650 acres of picturesque landscape.

Just minutes from Charlotte, NC, the nation’s second largest banking center, Belmont Abbey College offers students numerous internship opportunities and career placement.

The College believes in development of the whole person – mind, body and spirit. By offering a wide array of clubs and activities including Division II athletics, theatre, publications, and study abroad, Belmont Abbey College invests in the personal growth of its students.

Founded in 1876, the College celebrates its heritage and is inspired by the Benedictine monastic tradition. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the College and Abbey Basilica greet thousands of visitors each year.

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