Page 22 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2018

COASTNOTES
and fight breast cancer
story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster photos by Brian Treadaway
FIGHTING BREAST CANCER John Carter and Wade Howk.
“
the initiative to do all you can to make a change for the better.” Carter joined the fight against cancer in honor of his aunt and best friend who each lost their lives to the disease.
“This campaign really hit home for me because so many guys think that breast cancer doesn’t affect them, but it really does,” said RMWP ambassador and Boomtown Casino Biloxi Vice President of Operations Wade Howk. “My family has a history of cancer and
I feel like breast cancer is one that we really have a chance to cure for good.”
Fighting for a great cause isn’t all business though, there’s a good bit of fun involved as well. The ambassadors are competitive with fundraising (word on the street is that Carter and Howk are set to break a tie this year) and have come up with some creative fundraising strategies. From selling pink hard hats on construction sites to setting up fundraising booths in employee dining rooms, there’s nothing these guys won’t do to support the cause.
“The goal for the Mississippi Gulf Coast RMWP team in 2018 is to recruit a minimum of 25 candidates with a goal to raise $80,000,” Gaulke said. “In 2017, over 3,000 men joined RMWP across the country and raised $5.6 million.”
The American Cancer Society is looking for more ambassadors. If you think you fit the bill, give them a call! You’re going to want to start shopping for some pink clothes too.
South Region | American Cancer Society, Inc.
228.243.8221 Realmenwearpinkacs.org/gulfcoastms
Only real men can wear pink!”
You’ve probably heard that saying, but campaigning for a good cause never goes out of style. Besides, breast cancer doesn’t just affect women. Thousands of men in the United States
are diagnosed with the disease every year, as are more than 266,000 of their daughters, wives, mothers,
JOHN CARTER
sisters, aunts and friends.
“That’s why the American Cancer
Society is recruiting men to fight breast cancer through the Real Men Wear Pink (RMWP) campaign,” said Liz Gaulke, community development manager for the South Region of
the American Cancer Society. “This group of community leaders raises money and awareness to support the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer initiatives and to help save more lives from breast cancer than ever before.”
Do you think you’ve got what it takes to be a Real Men Wear Pink ambassador? Each ambassador is responsible for fundraising to reach a minimum personal goal of $2,500 and will wear pink every day throughout the month of October to raise awareness.
“You have to be a go getter,” said John Carter, RMWP ambassador and J. Carter & Co. realtor. “It’s about taking
WADE HOWK
22 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • May 2018
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