Activities

Jackson Middle School's "Think Pink" Campaign 2011

posted Nov 7, 2011 7:52 AM by Debbie Mills [ updated Nov 9, 2011 8:47 AM ]

Photos (clockwise): Debbie at JMS Pep Rally; Rolling out the teal and pink chains; Mrs. Slack's 2nd period classroom at the pep rally and again on 11/2/11

For four days beginning October 14, 2011, Jackson Middle School students sold pink and teal chain links and also sold t-shirts for breast and ovarian cancer awareness. Second period classes competed against each other to see who could sell the most links - thus making the longest chain. The 338 JMS students worked really hard to win - while making everyone aware of the reason for the teal and pink link. At their pep rally on October 19, classroom representatives stretched their links across the gym floor and the first place winners were announced: Mrs. April Slack's second period class! Their chain stretched 2/3 of the way acrossd the floor! Debbie was invited to speak to the student's about Gail's Anatomy and to share with them Gail's story. Mr. Hood's class came in second place and Mrs. McClain's class came in third.

Gail's Anatomy is honored to be the recipient of their school donation in the amount of $1,380 for our ovarian cancer awareness. This donation will go far to purchase ovarian cancer awareness items that will be used throughout the year at our various events. THANK YOU, Jackson Middle - you are the best!

Thanks also to Walt Reece for photographing the pep rally.

Hook & Cook Festival - October 15, 2011

posted Nov 7, 2011 7:14 AM by Debbie Mills [ updated Nov 7, 2011 8:48 AM ]

Pictured left to right: Gail's Anatomy display; Alicia Owens, Ali, Mary Grace Corbin, Pat Polson

JACKSON, SC: The third annual Hook & Cook Festival was held October 14-15 with lots of vendors and entertainment. Gail's Anatomy had a tent (thanks, Mary Grace!) with ovarian cancer information which was visited by most of the festival goers :) Thanks to Lynn Sullivan for giving us a good location :) Teal bracelets, bookmarks, and car magents were handed out - and our t-shirts were also sold. The weather was perfect and so was the festival. Thanks to all who stopped by.

Upcoming Events

posted Oct 13, 2011 7:14 AM by Debbie Mills [ updated Nov 7, 2011 8:20 AM ]

November 17, 2011 - Fox Creek High School Poster Contest

November 21, 2011 - Fox Creek High School Powder Puff football games at Merriwether Middle - "Paint the Field Teal"

December 1, 2011 - Relay For Life (RFL) team meeting at St. John's Methodist Church in Aiken 6:00 PM

January 5, 2012 - Relay For Life (RFL) team meeting at St. John's Methodist Church in Aiken 6:00 PM

January 17, 2012 - Relay For Life Kickoff at Newberry Hall in Aiken

February 2, 2012 - Relay For Life (RFL) team meeting at St. John's Methodist Church in Aiken 6:00 PM

March 1, 2012 - Relay For Life (RFL) team meeting at St. John's Methodist Church in Aiken 6:00 PM

March 3, 2012 - Aiken Tech's Softball Ovarian Cancer Awareness Games (1:00 PM and 3:00 PM)

March 31, 2012 - Cooper River Bridge Run, Charleston. Not restricted to Gail's Anatomy only - open to anyone wanting to bring awareness to ovarian cancer. More details posted later :)

April 5, 2012 - Relay For Life (RFL) team meeting at St. John's Methodist Church in Aiken 6:00 PM

May 3, 2012 - Relay For Life (RFL) team meeting at St. John's Methodist Church in Aiken 6:00 PM

May 8, 2012 - Survivors Dinner at St. John's Methodist Church in Aiken

May 18, 2012 - Relay For Life, South Aiken High School -- begin decorating campsite at 10:00 AM.

4th Annual Ovarian Cancer Awareness Softball Tournament - September 24, 2011

posted Oct 1, 2011 4:14 AM by Debbie Mills [ updated Oct 1, 2011 4:45 AM ]

USC-Aiken Pacers hosted the 4th Annual Ovarian Cancer Awareness Tournament at Satcher Field. Traveling softball teams joined in the event bringing many students, parents and fans to cheer for their team. Teal stadium cups imprinted with awareness information were handed out to everyone, along with a schedule of the days activities and a brief history of the tournament.

Thanks to the players and coaches for allowing Gail's Anatomy to host the event - and for the many players telling us that they wear the teal shirt throughout the year to give them an opportunity to tell others about ovarian cancer. The Pacers realize the importance of awareness - and early detection. We are honored to have them on the Gail's Anatomy team.

Aiken Mall Charity Bazaar - Sept. 16-17, 2011

posted Sep 23, 2011 6:21 AM by Debbie Mills [ updated Sep 23, 2011 6:29 AM ]

Gail's Anatomy took part in the Aiken Mall Charity Bazaar as part of their continuing September Ovarian Cancer Awareness event calendar. Awareness information and goodies were passed out all day Friday and Saturday increasing knowledge to many people who visited the mall. Alicia Owens who worked the event for Gail's Anatomy deemed it a huge success with many contacts made and even a few volunteers noted for future Gail's Anatomy events.

Aiken Senior Extravaganza - September 21, 2011

posted Sep 20, 2011 1:09 PM by Debbie Mills [ updated Oct 1, 2011 3:48 AM ]

Carol Mondschein, SRCF and Alicia Owens

Gail's Anatomy... teaming with Savannah River Cancer Foundation to alert Aiken seniors about the signs and symtoms of ovarian cancer!

Pizza Stop Supports Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

posted Sep 15, 2011 6:18 PM by Debbie Mills [ updated Oct 13, 2011 6:59 AM ]

JACKSON, SC - During the month of September, Pizza Stop customers were offered delicious homemade cakes and cookies for a donation to Gail's Anatomy. This awareness campaign brought in a total of $200 which was donated to Gail's Anatomy! Special thanks to Jeannie Tollison and Dawn for baking the goodies and creating such an informative display along side the choice of desserts :) Thanks to the loyal Pizza Stop customers for making this year's campaign such a success. Early detection saves lives - and your donation helps our mssion so much.

Town of Jackson BINGO Night

posted Sep 15, 2011 5:40 PM by Debbie Mills [ updated Sep 15, 2011 6:17 PM ]

JACKSON, SC - September 15, 2011: On the third Thursday of each month, the Town of Jackson hosts an evening of fun and fellowship as citizens gather to enjoy grilled hotdogs and BINGO. In recognition of Ovarian Cancer Awareness month, Gail's Anatomy provided dessert consisting of teal ribbon cupcakes by Desserves and homemade cookies. Mary Grace Corbin made sure extra teal bows were available - and various awareness information was shared.

Aiken Standard article - September 5, 2011

posted Sep 13, 2011 10:07 AM by Debbie Mills

Debbie Mills of Gail's Anatomy and Mary Grace Corbin

in Jackson after the ovarian cancer awareness banners were mounted.

Jackson, Aiken turn teal for awareness

By AMY BANTON - Staff writer - email:abanton@aikenstandard.com

The color teal becomes a bit more prevalent in September, which is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

Teal is the color of the ovarian cancer awareness ribbon, and it's popping up around various places including Jackson and Aiken. This is the second year that the Town of Jackson and the City of Aiken have participated in an awareness campaign that speaks volumes of a fairly silent disease.

The local awareness campaign was prompted by Debbie Mills, team captain of the Relay For Life Team Gail's Anatomy. Mills' daughter, Gail, lost her life to ovarian cancer in 2007 at the age of 30. Mills took that painful loss and turned it into a mission to share information about the disease with as many people as she can to promote early detection and hopefully save lives.

"I look at it as a celebration of Gail and remembering her, being blessed with her, and I know if it can happen to Gail, it can happen to anybody," Mills said. "That's why it's important to me to alert women about the signs and symptoms."

Gail's hometown of Jackson has teal ribbons tied around its trees, a billboard which will be installed sometime this week on Atomic Road and banners hanging from its street light poles.

Jackson Mayor Todd Etheredge said the town is happy and quite proud to participate in Ovarian Cancer Awareness month by turning teal.

"It's really become a great thing and the town supports it," Etheredge said. "Those teal ribbons are bringing a lot of awareness. They (the residents) are asking questions."

The banners that are hanging around Jackson read "In loving memory of Gail Mills" and have the image of a turtle and a teal ribbon around its neck. Turtles were Gail's favorite animal. Mary Grace Corbin designed the banners and helped with the bows.

"She, of course, was a very dear friend of mine, and I just wanted to do something special on the scale of spreading ovarian cancer awareness," Corbin said.

Lisa Holley of Jackson shared a birthday with Gail - Feb. 23. She said that Gail never failed to call her to wish her a happy birthday, and she truly misses her friend. Holley wanted to help with the awareness campaign, so she assisted by garnering donations for the banners.

"Gail was such a special person. For our town to honor her, she deserves every bit of it," Holley said. "I know that she would want to use this to save as many lives as possible and to get the word out there. When she was diagnosed, it took her so fast. She was too young for that to happen to her."

In August, Aiken Mayor Fred Cavanaugh handed Mills a proclamation to turn the city teal. Teal ribbons popped up around the city, and several business owners are helping to spread awareness. Desserves is selling red velvet cupcakes this month with teal icing, and PowerCuts Salon and Spa have "Fight Like A Girl" and "Nothing could be finer than a cure in Carolina" T-shirts available during September.

"I feel like we've come a long way in the awareness campaign," Mills said. "I feel like this is definitely headed in the right direction. We're saving lives, and that's success in any way you look at it."

For more information on Gail's Anatomy or ovarian cancer signs and symptoms, visit www.ovariancancerawareness4life.org.

Aiken Downtown Development Association - window display

posted Sep 12, 2011 12:49 PM by Debbie Mills [ updated Oct 1, 2011 4:06 AM ]

Special thanks to URS and Carla Cloud, Executive Director of ADDA, for allowing us to team together for September's window display in recognition of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Items displayed: miniture version of the billboard in Jackson, one of the posters displayed throughout Aiken and Jackson, a copy of the Atlantic Broadband slide announcing September as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, the plaque presented to URS by the American Cancer Society for supporting the Relay For Life, teal bracelets, bookmarks, stadium cups with the signs and symptoms imprinted, lapel pins and, of course, a teal bow.

The Alley in Aiken is always busy so our window display was certainly noticed.

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