Denversusan g. komenBreast Cancerbreast cancer awareness

Joan Lucas, Denver Woman, Has House Painted Hot Pink For Breast-Cancer Awareness

Pretty In Pink: House Painted For Good Cause

In honor of breast cancer awareness month in October and the the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure this Sunday, a Denver woman has been named “volunteer of the year” by Yoplait Yogurt -- her award? House painted bright pink by Yoplait.

Fox31 reports that Joan Lucas started volunteering for Susan G. Komen 19 years ago after a friend was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Lucas says of the time, “Twenty years ago nobody talked about breast cancer, there was no place to go.” So Lucas got involved.

Lucas is a long time supporter of breast-cancer awareness, according to The Denver Post, she is one of the women responsible for bringing the Race for the Cure to Denver 19 years ago. And she’s made a tremendous difference -- that first year of the race, about 3,200 people participated and $27,000 was raised for local causes.

This year, the Komen Race for the Cure is expected to draw around 50,000 people and raise more than $1 million dollars, according to the Komen Race for the Cure website.

To date, the Race for the Cure in Denver has raised $28 million for breast-cancer research in the Denver community.

Lucas's nearly two decades of dedication for breast-cancer awareness got Yoplait’s attention, so they started painting her house on Newton St. pink beginning at 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning, 9News reports. Yoplait’s goal is to remind everyone that breast cancer starts in our neighborhoods. The yogurt company has also donated more than $100,000 to the Denver chapter of Susan G. Komen’s Foundation.

Lucas’s house will be hot pink all through October and then go back to a more neighbor-friendly tan in September.

Yoplait is also running its “Save Lids to Save Lives” (SLSL) campaign in support of breast-cancer awareness month. Yoplait is putting pink lids on many of their products and will donate $.10 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure for each pink lid redeemed by Dec. 31, 2011 with hopes of raising $2 million for the cause. For more information about the Yoplait SLSL campaign, go to their website.

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Visit the Komen Race for the Cure in Denver website for more information about signing up for the race.

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