Breast cancer awareness focus of walk

FAMU's Marching 100 and members in Alpha Xi chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. walk to bring awareness to breast cancer.
Photo credit: Rochard Moricette

The Alpha Xi chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity hosted its inaugural Breast Cancer Awareness walk with the Marching 100 Saturday morning on Florida A&M University’s campus. The walk began at The Set and ended at the recreation field, where the Marching 100 gave a performance.

Junior agribusiness major, Rochard Moricette participated in the walk for his first time and spoke on the importance of bringing awareness to breast cancer.

“It’s important to bring awareness to breast cancer because it is one of the most common forms of cancer found in women. A lot of women are affected … and in return a lot of families are affected,” Moricette said.

He added: “The overall experience of the event was great. We had people from the community come out and many have had family members affected by breast cancer. It was beautiful to see the community come together.”

Positive energy and pink shirts spread across the streets of FAMU’s campus. Some walked for friends and family suffering from breast cancer. Others walked for loved ones who lost their battle fighting breast cancer.

Patrick Thomas, a junior criminal justice major, made it his mission to be present during the walk. Thomas walked to bring awareness to breast cancer because some of his friends are battling the disease. 

Saturday was not Thomas’ first time bringing awareness. He said, “Throughout high school, my football team and I would bring awareness to breast cancer by wearing pink and hosting a walk around the school. We would make one game our ‘pink out game’ where everyone wearing pink would get into the game for a discounted price, and the proceeds would go toward raising awareness for breast cancer.”

Breast cancer is also found in men, although far less frequently. Detecting breast cancer early can increase the chances of beating the disease.

“I believe it’s important to bring awareness to breast cancer to let the world know of its severity, and how many lives are affected because of it. One out of 8 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with breast cancer. Bringing awareness can help raise funds for research and hopefully change lives,” added Thomas.

Donations were accepted at the event and members of the Alpha Xi chapter of Kappa Alpha Psisaid they  plan on making it an annual event.

To learn about breast cancer symptoms and treatment options go to : https://www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer.html