What's New?!

October 2008

Pink Wings has been up and running for 6 years now. We started with just a few pink ribbon items in the year 2000, and now have hundreds of items. I am proud to say that most of the product on the site continues to be designed and made exclusively for Pink Wings. We have over 125 original pink ribbon and teal ribbon lapel pins, including our new Sports Girl Pink Ribbon Pin Collection. New to the site in just the last few months, the Field Hockey Pink Ribbon Girl, Spa Girl, Swimmer, Bicycle Girl and the popular Motorcycle Pink Ribbon pin (now available in 2 sizes: small 1 ¼” and large 1 ½”). Our new Camo crystal pink ribbon hat and shirt are sell outs at every event as well as the Varsity Brown shirts with pink stripes on the sleeves. The Black Fleece Jacket with embroidered Paisley Ribbon is sure to be a crowd pleaser this winter. It is so soft and warm and will be a must have for training walks, Race for the Cure events, Avon Walks, 3-Day Walks and Relay for Life events in the colder fall months.

Courtney, her family, and Pink Wings have now donated over $120,000 for breast cancer research and education through various non-profit organizations including, but not limited to:

• Susan G. Komen
• Avon Foundation
• American Cancer Society
• Young Survival Coalition
• FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered)
• Entertainment Industry Foundation
• Dr. Susan Love Foundation
• weSPARK Cancer Support Center
• Pink Ribbon Club Foundation
• Linda L. Vladyka Breast Wellness Foundation
• Soroptimist of Albany Walk for the Cause

Courtney has also donated countless Pink Wings Pink Ribbon gift baskets, Lapel Pins and Tattoos to various organizations and individuals raising funds and awareness for Breast Health.

This year Courtney and her sister Erin became the Oregon Coordinators for FORCE. Because of FORCE and the knowledge I have from attending the FORCE conferences and reading the FORCE message board, I made the decision to have a prophylactic mastectomy last summer. My sister had both of her breasts removed last November and plans to have her ovaries removed later this year.

My big push now is to help raise funds for FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered). Please go to this link to see why this organization is so important to me or to make a donation to my online giving page: http://www.firstgiving.com/pinkwings If everyone who read this gave even as little as $5, it would make a difference!

Courtney keeps busy through out the year participating in various walks for cancer with and without her family:

On June 27th, 28th Pink Wings had a team in the Albany Relay for Life. We had 13 team members walking the track and most of us spent the night in a tent on the field at West Albany High School. My kids just love this event and enjoy finding other friends and families to walk with.

On August 8-10th, Courtney and her sister Erin walked the 60-Mile Breast Cancer 3-Day in Chicago. We had our annual Garage Sale to raise funds for this event and raised almost $1,000 again. Boy- we have a lot of junk to get rid of every year . This walk was fantastic!! A fellow walker named Caryn picked us up at the airport. We stayed the night with a FORCE member (Heather), then went to lunch and spent the night with another FORCE member, (Ziva). We were driven to the event by Ziva’s husband. A Pink Wings customer named Lori was our Walker Stalker and brought us Starbuck’s Coffee every morning on the route. She also took us back to the airport on Monday morning. The walk route was beautiful and ended with us walking down the Magnificent Mile into Soldier’s Field. This event raised millions for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

On September 21st Pink Wings had a team at the Portland, Oregon Race for the Cure. We had 15 members on the team this year. We all wore the pink “Ribbons 4 A Cure” t-shirts and Pink Wings Pink Ribbon bandanas. It is amazing to think that the 4, 5 and 6 year olds can walk over 3 miles on these events. The great entertainment along the way sure helps out! My favorite this year was the “One of a Kind Drum Line”. My 6-year-old daughter Sage gave the leader of the band a Pink Wings bandana. He gave her a hug and then gave her a pair of drum sticks. She had a smile a mile wide and was the envy of her sister and cousins. She cherishes those drum sticks!

On October 4th Pink Wings will have a team walking in the Albany Walk for the Cause. It was funny to read my What’s New from last year as I had wondered who would be the Grand Marshal for the 2007 Albany “Walk for the Cause”. Imagine my surprise to find out that I was chosen to be one of the 8 Grand Marshals for the Walk!! I did a radio show talking about the importance of early detection the month before the walk, then stood on the Court House steps and spoke to a crowd of over 1,000 on the morning of the walk. This year’s Grand Marshal is Mary Lee Horch, Miss Oregon USA 2008.

In July of 2009, Courtney and her 15 year-old daughter Sedona, along with Courtney’s sister Erin will be walking in the Boston Breast Cancer 3-Day 60-mile walk. We would love to have a HUGE team! So far we are up to 6. Come join us. Just go to the3day.org and sign up. Look for the Pink Wings team and type in pinkwings for the password to join our team. We will help you with your fundraising.

Pink Wings also participates in many other events through out the year:

In February, Pink Wings had a booth at the Young Survivor Conference in Jacksonville, Florida. This is a fantastic conference for those diagnosed with cancer at a young age (40-45 or younger). In March, Pink Wings had a table at a Team Captain meeting in Los Angeles.

In April, Pink Wings was in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Essentially Women Focus on the Future Tradeshow. Thanks to Jennifer Pates for her help at this event. Jen is with the organization I2Y (I’m Too Young For This – Cancer) and we met at the Young Survivor Conference. We are now good friends and I could not have done the Focus on the Future tradeshow without her help. On April 27th, Courtney spoke at the Pink Ribbon Club Foundation’s annual luncheon and conference. This fantastic organization is headed up by breast cancer survivor Jane Sussman and her daughters. They are getting the word out to the young high school girls (and even Middle School girls) about breast cancer and early detection. These girls also volunteer at the Race for the Cure and help to raise funds for Breast Cancer Research and education. In May, Pink Wings had a booth at the 3rd Annual FORCE conference in Tampa, Florida. This is a one of a kind conference for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutation carriers or for those from high risk families of Breast and/or Ovarian Cancer. It is a great place to speak to the doctors in person, to meet other survivors and previvors, and to hear about the latest in treatments, surgeries, etc. In June, Pink Wings had a booth at the World Breast Cancer Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I was thrilled to be invited to exhibit at this conference. It was the first time I have had a booth out of the country. There were over 600 delegates from over 30 countries represented. The women LOVED the Pink Wings product and I almost ran out of some items on the first day of the 3 day conference. The “What’s In Your Heart Locket” was a big hit as well as the camo shirt, camo hat, and of course the Pink Wings pins. Thank goodness I had a wonderful volunteer named Debbie in the booth with me every day. Debbie is the sister of one of the board members for the event. I couldn’t have had such a successful booth without her. Lexie, from Australia was also at the event, as well as Mary Macheras (a fellow Amazon Heart Sister from my Sri Lanka trip). Lexi spoke at the Field Of Women event on Friday night and I was honored to hang out with her that evening and to meet the family she had lived with in Winnipeg during her high school years. I also reconnected with Tracey from Canada and met her friend Penny. Penny is another 2-time survivor of breast cancer (like me) and is only in her 20’s. In September, Pink Wings had a booth at the Susan G. Komen Health Expo in Portland, Oregon.

In October, Pink Wings will have a booth at the Albany Walk for the Cause and the Salem Discover Pink Walk. Also in October, Pink Wings will have a booth at the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Conference in Harrisburg, PA and in Tampa, Florida at the FACTOR’s Breast Cancer Conference.

Courtney’s story has now been published in the book: Foot Soldier’s Stories of the Breast Cancer 3-Day (the Los Angeles chapter) and in the FORCE newsletter (September issue), Mom Magazine (Sept. /Oct. issue), and Mamm Magazine (Sept. /Oct. issue).

As you can see, things have been pretty busy for Pink Wings. I can only hope we keep as busy in 2009! If you would like to learn more about any of the events that Pink Wings will be attending, please go to the Links page or Upcoming Events page on my website. Most of these events have web sites that I am linked up to. If you know of a gift store or a breast cancer center that you would like to see carry Pink Wings product, please have them check out the Pink Wings site or email me with their name and number. If you know of an upcoming event that you would like to see a Pink Wings booth at, please contact me at courtney@pinkwings.com If you need a speaker at an upcoming event- feel free to contact me. Have a great year and thank you for joining Pink Wings in raising awareness and money for Breast Health Awareness!

 

Courtney Zinszer
2-time Breast Cancer Survivor
Owner and Founder
www.Pinkwings.com
Phone: 310-663-0482