C.A.R.E. Week entertains, educates

When the Kappa Phi Gamma founders picked a philanthropy to dedicate time and effort toward, they wanted to pick something personal and purposeful.

Kia Potts, treasurer of VCU’s chapter, said since cancer touched each of the founder’s lives in some way, they decided to make cancer awareness the sorority’s philanthropy.

Kappa Phi’s women sponsored events last week that promoted awareness of cancer and raised donations under the name Cancer Awareness, a Real Effort, or C.A.R.E. week.

To help the group’s efforts, Linda Hancock, assistant director for the Office of Health Promotion, conducted “Pink Donuts and Mr. Nuts,” a seminar focused on testicular and cervical cancer awareness.

“I have a reputation for being funny,” Hancock said about the reason the Kappa Phi’s members asked her to conduct the virgin voyage of this presentation.

The seminar got its name because Hancock thinks the cervix resembles a pink doughnut.

During the interactive seminar, participants grouped into teams to play a jeopardy-style trivia game that included questions about cervical and testicular cancer, sexually transmitted diseases and the VCU health offices.

“If it’s wet and it’s not yours,” Hancock said, “don’t touch it.”

Participants chimed in to finish the sentence after answering one of the questions during the game.

Hancock decided to focus on testicular and cervical cancer, even though April marks National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, because people ages 15 to 35 often are diagnosed with these cancers.

Students participated in scavenger hunts by looking for fake skin cancers that had been previously taped on, while another scavenger hunt featured a hands-on testicular cancer search using testicle replicas.

Although people laughed throughout the seminar because of the games, they learned about all types of cancers, about important health facts and about the VCU health clinic.

Brent Oliva, a first year business major, turned the fun-and-games mood serious when he told his testicular cancer survival story.

Oliva, who attended the candlelight vigil earlier in the week, said he went to the seminar “interested to see what they had to say about it.”

Using comical phrases such as “slipped that sucker out of there” to describe his emergency surgery to remove the cancer as a high school senior, Oliva explained the importance of awareness, saying cancer doesn’t discriminate.

Noting that the best part of his experience with cancer was the free ice cream, pudding, and macaroni and cheese in the hospital, Oliva also described his chemotherapy sessions after the cancer had spread to a spot on his lungs.

This year the VCU sorority donated money to the American Cancer Society, but Vineetha Pillai, the group’s secretary, said next year the sorority plans to become involved with Relay For Life while it promote cancer awareness.

Amrita Bajwa, Kappa Phi president, said next year the women have plans to host activities during the entire week.

While “Pink Donuts and Mr. Nuts” provided a fun time for students, they also walked away with a full stomach from the free pink doughnuts. Regardless, they left with knowledge that Hancock and the members of Kappa Phi want people to learn about cancer and its related illnesses.