Event blends breast cancer awareness fundraiser with Zumba dance class
Seniors Jess Ballister and Amanda Croiter pose before teaching the Zumba class. (Photo courtesy of Megan Bailey) For more photos of the event, please visit The Gettysburgian’s Facebook page.
By Jenna Rush, Contributing Writer
Feel your boobies. This is the catchphrase for women across America who are calling for early prevention of breast cancer among women of all ages. On Oct. 22, students from Gettysburg College gathered on the East Quad outside of Hanson Hall to raise awareness about breast cancer and celebrate survivors of the disease.
One of the Resident Assistants for Hanson basement, Junior Megan Bailey, wanted to plan an event for her floor. Because October is national breast cancer awareness month, Bailey felt that this cause would make a good springboard for the event.
“Everyone knows someone who has been affected by cancer,” said Bailey.
Bailey wanted to make the event fun and engaging so she came up with the idea of Zumba for a Cure. The idea was to mix the increasingly popular Zumba with a universal issue: cancer.
This floor-wide event quickly turned into an event for all first years and was eventually opened to the entire school.
“Hopefully people from the whole school will come,” said Bailey. She wanted to make it clear that breast cancer does not just affect grandmothers; it is a reality for youth.
The purpose of Zumba for a Cure was to raise awareness. A table was set up in the quad and volunteers gave out pamphlets on how to perform self-examinations for breast cancer and testicular cancer. In addition, Bailey and Junior Kaleigh Sosa gave out bracelets that said “fight” and “survivor.” They were also asking for donations to send to the American Cancer Society.
Senior Jess Ballister, the Zumba instructor for the event, said that Bailey reached out to her when it was just a floor event. Once she found out it was a schoolwide event, Ballister said, “I am a little nervous, but I also feel privileged.” Ballister, along with Senior Amanda Croiter, led the Zumba class from the patio of Hanson Hall.
Anyone walking past the East Quad on Sunday would have seen around thirty people dressed in pink, flailing their arms and legs around trying to keep up with Ballister and Croiter. If they questioned what these students were doing, they would quickly figure out the cause because everyone was dressed in pink and there were large, handmade signs surrounding the quad.
A large portion of the attendees were the ten sophomore students that make up the theme house, “Pink House.” Theme houses at Gettysburg represent a cause that students decide to actively support throughout the year. House leader and Sophomore Christine Betterly said that they chose breast cancer as their theme because it is something that affects everyone.
“A lot of people I know were being diagnosed,” said Betterly.
First-year students Kim Crowley and Avery Fox said that they attended Zumba for a Cure because they wanted to participate in Zumba. Crowley had never tried Zumba before and was looking forward to her first class.
“It connects something fun like Zumba to a great cause,” said Fox.
As Ballister said before she started the Zumba lesson, “Think of it as a celebration.” Cancer awareness events have the ability to fall into the category of depressing, but Bailey’s event was a celebration of life and youth.
