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The Breast Cancer Awareness month of October came to a fitting climax with Think Pink Bahrain's gala dinner at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel in Manama which attracted 490 guests.
Sailing star and Think Pink ambassador Sami Al Kooheji, members of the community, Think Pink's platinum sponsors and other corporate sponsors came together to show support for the charity that aims to spread awareness and raise funds for breast cancer education and medical equipment on the island.
Jules Sprakel, founder of Think Pink in Bahrain, said: "At the gala dinner we raised BD10,200 from the raffle prizes and auction alone. It has been an outstanding month and everyone from different walks of life got involved with raising awareness and collecting funds which was absolutely great."
An auction for the evening had items like a McLaren F1 coffee table book signed by former world champion Lewis Hamilton, a framed shirt and cap from European golfing legend Sergio Garcia, a trip for two to Dubai with skydives over The Palm Atlantis and a party aboard Coral Beach's new catamaran complete with a chef and crew. There was also a raffle draw at the end of the evening and guests won prizes ranging from gift vouchers for dinner, beauty treatments, watches, an iPod Touch, a Blackberry mobile phone, pens and a camera.
Banker Jonty Crosse was the master of ceremonies at the gala and one of the highlights of the evening was when auctioneer Steve Blight of Gulf Brands International offered to cut his shoulder-length hair ... for a price! He had been growing it for four years and had his crowning glory shaved on stage for BD550.
Throughout the month of October various events were organised in the kingdom for the breast cancer charity.
School children arranged bake sales, gyms and fitness centres hosted Think Pink open days, coffee mornings were staged accompanied by gift sales, the Harley Owners Group held an awareness ride and Royal Golf Club also conducted events. All raised funds for the Think Pink education scholarship programme and towards the purchase of a diagnostic digital Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine.
Ms Sprakel said: "Along with our fund-raising activities we did many community lectures for schools and corporations on breast cancer awareness.
"We also touched base with various GPs and doctors and they informed us that a lot more women are coming into their clinics for breast check-ups along with questions on how to perform a self-examination properly. So the message is not lost and that is a pat on Think Pink Bahrain's back.
"We are also continuing our work with nurses from Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) who reach out to spread awareness into the local community.
"Think Pink Bahrain team has done a lot and now it is up to the community to dig deep into their pockets for the MRI machine because this important diagnostic tool is for the community. We want to have enough money when we close our books in April 2011 to be able to buy the machine and not carry the MRI machine funds campaign forward to the next year."
In April this year, Think Pink Bahrain handed a cheque worth BD50,000 to Ghassan Fakhroo from Phillips for the initial deposit of a digital MRI machine for SMC. It plans to continue its efforts in raising funds to finance the MRI machine which costs about BD880,000.
The decision to purchase the MRI machine was taken after in-depth studies and various regional statistics and is supported by the SMC's Oncology Department and the Ministry of Health. Adhering to Think Pink Bahrain's mission of early detection and prevention, the campaigners are confident the digital MRI will prove to be an essential diagnostic tool.
Donations to the MRI Fund can be done through a special account set up with BBK and is called the Mohammed Fakhroo & Bros MRI Fund Acc No: 200002758833.
