FAU’s Pink Owls Club — a team of 65 students that work to support the fight against breast cancer — raise thousands of dollars each year through collection of donations and holding events in an effort to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. So far, the Pink Owls have raised $2,387 since October last year, with their goal being $5,000 by the end of February.
Pink Owls is a club organized by Jennifer Bebergal, the team’s field organizer and FAU’s Director of Student Retention. The team’s main goal is to play a part in helping Susan G. Komen for the Cure end breast cancer forever.
FAU has participated in the Komen Race for the Cure for about fifteen years. Sharron Ronco, the former team captain who lost her mother during her fight of breast cancer in the 1970s, left the university last year when Bebergal took over.
Out of the 20,000 people who participated in the Komen Race for the Cure last year, the FAU Pink Owls were the largest school team there who raised the most money for the Susan G. Komen cause. They had 151 team members and $6,000 raised. This year, there was only 65 members, and $2,387 raised. You can donate anytime from October to the end of February on their website, FAU Pink Owls.
The College of Arts & Letters and the College of Science each donated $100. Dr. Gitanjali Kaul, Vice President for Strategic Planning and Office of Information Technology, donated $300 to FAU Pink Owls. The money from these donors go towards the shirts the Pink Owls wear at each annual race.
“FAU has participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure for 15 years. IEA has helped lead the FAU team for all 15 of those years,” said Dr. Kaul.
This year, the FAU Marching Band kicked off all the teams at the Race for the Cure. “We usually get about over 20,000 people that participate in the race,” Bebergal said.
The largest group this year is the Residence Student Association (RSA) from the John D. MacArthur campus in Jupiter, with nine students participating.
The FAU team members walk in honor of and memory of a variety of friends, family members and colleagues.
Sidra Siddiqui, a junior biological sciences major, is one of the many students who participate in the race for the cure.
“I think this is a great cause. I have an aunt who had to go through breast cancer so the cause is pretty close to home for me. I also think this is a fun and great way to raise awareness” Siddiqui said.
“We have a whole bunch of people across the university. We have four breast cancer survivors that raced with us this year. Faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends at the university, we allow anyone who’s interested to join the team,” Bebergal said.
This story is an updated version from the print story, The Power of Pink.
