I have a mission. I intend to reach out, one pink scarf at a time, to every woman who has been diagnosed with cancer. With the generous help of many others, My Pink Scarf™ is shipping hand knitted and/or crocheted pink scarves as donations to these women, to bring a little sunshine in their lives.
My name is Tara Lacher and I am a Mandan, North Dakota native with two children. This web page explains how I got the inspiration to create this important mission, a non-profit organization and website:
In October of 2006 the well-known direct selling company, Mary Kay, had a promotion where hostesses of Mary Kay parties were given a pink wrap to help generate awareness of breast cancer. A portion of the company’s proceeds from the promotional sales went to the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation, which funneled money to women affected by cancer or domestic violence. Truly a great cause!
I decided on my own to extend this promo beyond those who were willing to host parties, to include women who were recently diagnosed with and/or survivors of cancer. The first pink wrap went to Bismarck Police Chief Deb Ness, a breast cancer survivor.
Soon the Mary Kay promotion came to an end and it pained me to stop. I watched three women in my family fight and beat cancer and I wanted to do something to help others get through it, so I made a decision. I would knit pink scarves and donate each one to someone special.
June 1, 2007, was life changing. I was asked by the American Cancer Society Relay for Life survivor’s committee to speak about the My Pink Scarf™ project, at the First Annual Survivor’s Dinner. And I had a carefully prepared speech that I knew it by heart. But something happened that day that changed what I would say that night.
An hour prior to dinner, my eldest daughter, Laura, and I carried in 75 bagged pink scarves which were going to be handed out to the cancer survivors. Beyond that and the fact that I was going to speak, I did not know what was going to happen. I was a bit shell-shocked.
I asked one of the committee members what the plan was and she said “Did you register?” I went blank. She repeated herself and added; “Did you register? Are you a survivor?” And I said “Oh my god, I am.” She told me to get registered and to sit down at a table. My daughter who was standing beside me didn’t know yet, so she asked “Mom, what are you a survivor of?”
I shared with her that I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer earlier in the day. She asked me, “Are you going to die?” I told her “No, my cancer is treatable.”
With over 300 people in attendance, I stood before my audience and was momentarily speechless. I looked around the room and could see their excitement as they waited for me to begin talking about my mission and the scarves. It was then that I decided to go off-book, sharing my news rather than delivering my planned speech. I said “I joined your family today. I was diagnosed with cancer four hours ago!”
The room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
I proceeded with the story of My Pink Scarf™ and told them that anyone who had not received a pink scarf needed to stop by before they left for the evening and pick one up. I left the podium with a heart-felt standing ovation. Shortly thereafter, the survivor’s committee presented me with one of my own pink scarves. An emotional moment that I still cannot adequately describe.
After that night I knew my passion for the My Pink Scarf™ project would never end, I had found my life’s mission. However, I never imagined when I started that I would become a member of the pink scarf family … funny thing is; I’m a better person because of it. From personal experience I know what it means to receive such a special gift.
I have now survived cancer twice. I know what it is like to fight off this disease and I want to reach out to you and lend some support plus send you your own gift of a scarf from My Pink Scarf™.
If you have cancer or you know another woman who does, please click here to register to receive a donated scarf from My Pink Scarf™, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
If you wish to make a donation to the organization, you can do so by clicking here.