P.ink Denver 2016

My name is Karen Richards (right, above), and I am the local leader for the first ever P.ink Day in Denver, Colorado, taking place on October 7, 2016. 

What is a P.ink Day?
Most breast cancer survivors are told they have two options after a mastectomy: reconstruction or no reconstruction. P.ink (Personal Ink) believes survivors deserve a third option that most aren’t familiar with: tattoos, for scar coverage, scar adornment or nipple replacement. One way P.ink makes this option accessible is by mobilizing local communities via P.ink Day: a private, annual, curated experience in which local volunteers connect survivors with experienced artists, who donate their time and provide complimentary tattoos.

About Me
I am a 14 year breast cancer survivor, a grateful and honored P.ink tattoo recipient from P.ink Day - Boulder in 2014, and the co-leader of P.ink Day - Boulder in 2015.

It has been my personal mission since connecting with P.ink, to expand the reach of P.ink Days into new cities - making this amazing healing experience availale to more breast cancer surivors. Targeting a new event this year in Denver event is the first step.
 
The Need
It's been a lot of work getting this event on the P.ink roster this year, and as a relative newcomer to the area, I've struggled getting connected with local estabishments who can donate these types of goods and services 

For our first P.ink Denver event, we are looking for donations to help us cover our costs for hosting the event for six brave survivors (3 from out of town), the 6 generous artists who are donating a full day of their time to tattoo these women, the women's "hand-holding BFFs", (one of whom will accompany each survivor), and a handful of hardworking volunteers from P.ink and from All Sacred Tattoo . About 25-30 people in total.

We want this event to be a super-special, memorable celebration of life, and closure and for our participants, It should be the way our breast cancer survivors remember the final chapter in their journey to reclaim their relationship with the mirror.

In order make this event special, we've gotten pretty far! To complete our vision, we need to cover the following costs:

** A reception on Event Eve - October 6th - where all of our participants will have a chance to meet and mingle and get to know each other better before the big day

**Lunch for the group at All Sacred Tattoo Studio on the day - October 7th

**Table/Chair rentals for the Studio

**Printing costs

**Promotional items

Donations need to be secured by September 30, 2016 in order to make all the final arrangements. It's tight, but I know we can do it!

Funds raised above our target will be saved and put towards next years event, in which we hope to expand into additional Denver studios, and hopefully expand upon the Survivor Experience!

This year Denver will be one of 13 cities hosting a P.ink Day, and one of 3 new cities to join the P.ink family.

You'll find most our press mentions at Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/personalink/pink-in-the-news/.

We also have a select group of videos available on your YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaX8Djy8qzZXdIgdEcRPtlQ

Thanks for reading, and please share share share our story!