The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

AFTER witnessing how a co-worker struggled to care for her mother who was suffering from cancer, Diann Russell was moved to launch a unique initiative to help ease the burden on families caring for their sick loved ones.

The “Pink 5 Project” is a small initiative that aims to assist five cancer patients or survivors by showing them love and appreciation. One candidate will be selected on a monthly basis and will receive free groceries, a celebratory church service at Trinity Global Cathedral and a photo shoot by NDO Films. Trevor Williams and the Outback Steakhouse team have also agreed to give each candidate a complimentary lunch. Additionally, Christie Cadet and the Eleuthera branch of the Cancer Society are joining the project by submitting a candidate.

Held under the umbrella of the Pink Butterfly Cancer Charity which was started by Diann several years ago, the “Pink 5 Project” will kick off on May 1 and end in September.

Diann hopes the initiative will go along way to help those struggling with the demands of daily life while they also battle cancer.

“My co-worker’s mother (Delores Miller) had cancer, and she told me stories about how there was only her paying the bills and buying groceries, and how her teenage daughter had to help cook and watch her while she worked. She said she did not even know what to cook for her and that PMH did not give her any reading material to help. She would go online and Google what to do. It touched my heart and I told her I wanted her mother to be my first candidate. Unfortunately, her mother died a week later. She had stage 4 breast cancer and was about 70 years old. It saddened me and made me push my project even more,” Diann said.

Diann said she believe the project will help cancer survivors, even if it’s only in a small way.

“It is my hope that through this project we are able to touch each candidate in a personal way. We want them as well as their families that are going through it with them to see that in spite of everything there is hope and we are rooting for them to get better. The groceries collected, a wonderful photo shoot and awesome church service planned will put a smile on their faces. We are not waiting until October to spread the love, we are starting now,” she told Tribune Woman.

The Pink Butterfly fundraising initiative was started by Diann as a small mixer held in her apartment in 2012. It has since grown tremendously.

She initially started the mixer as a way to raise funds to assist a friend who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, but every year since its inception, the event has also raised money to donate to the Cancer Society of the Bahamas.

“This will be my fifth year working along with cancer awareness efforts. From 2012 I’ve hosted a cancer awareness mixers during the month of October. The reason I started was because my friend was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer at the age of 30. At that time in our lives it was all about fun and partying, so it was a real shock, and to add to that we didn’t know much about cancer,” she said. “I started the charity as a way to educate our young women, and also to give back to those in need.”

• For more information on the “Pink 5 Project”, contact thepinkbbfly@gmail.com.