CitySavings’ Project Pink continues to promote breast cancer awareness

Editor’s note: GoodRap continues to share stories of brands and companies leveraging their resources to help communities in need.

In line with this, City Savings Bank conducted the first online version of Project Pink: Breast Cancer Awareness Program for Teachers in celebration of National Women’s Month. The webinars were held last March 18 and 26. Below is their press release.

Project Pink: Breast Cancer Awareness Program for Teachers, one of the signature Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs of City Savings Bank, Inc. (CitySavings), are nationwide on-ground seminars specifically designed to help public school teachers raise their level of awareness on the prevention and early detection of breast cancer.

This year, the event, in partnership with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. – Eduardo J. Aboitiz Cancer Center (RAFI – EJACC), was held online for the first time.

More than 500 educators from all over the country joined the two webinars held last March 18 and 26. These also coincided with CitySavings’ celebration of National Women’s Month. Through this program, the goal was to create programs that educate and empower women, especially teachers. 

The event’s keynote speaker Dr. Amabelle Gerona, an oncologist based in Cebu City. She discussed how teachers can detect, confirm, prevent, and treat breast cancer.

“A part of the reason why our (breast cancer) cases are high here in the Philippines is the stigma. We want to remove that by educating as many people as possible so that this can be prevented earlier on,” she said. 

Ronald de los Reyes, the Program Coordinator of RAFI-EJACC, discussed how the organization has been helping Filipinos in the province of Cebu combat the “Big C.”

RAFI – EJACC fosters wellness through its programs in cancer advocacy and education, screening and early detection, and treatment assistance. Its flagship programs include cervical and breast cancer screening training for rural health units, mass cervical and breast cancer screening, cancer treatment patient assistance, and the establishment of cancer patient support groups.

To cap it off, Edna Magsoling, an assistant principal and a breast cancer survivor from Bogo City, Cebu, shared her experience with her fellow teachers.

“With the help of God and my loved ones who were there for me, I was able to overcome the challenges,” she said.

Another guest speaker was Mary Ann Sacristan-Bojos, one of the founders of Cebu Pink Paddlers Dragon Boat Team, the first-ever breast cancer survivor dragon boat team in the Philippines. Their advocacy is to spread awareness on the early detection of breast cancer.

Although she faced discouragement and frustration along the way, she managed to pull through. “There is hope! Kailangan ko bigyan ng chance ang sarili ko dahil binigyan ako ng Panginoon ng pangalawang pagkakataon. [I need to give myself a chance because God gave me a second chance at life],” she said.

Now, she is an active member of the iCanServe Foundation’s activities, giving hope to women battling this disease.

This webinar proves that despite the current challenges the pandemic has brought about, CitySavings continues its service-oriented CSR initiatives while going above and beyond its vision of “helping people of moderate means.”

“While we have been supporting DepEd through our various CSR initiatives to ensure education continues beyond the classroom walls, another gap that needs to be addressed is our educators’ health and wellness. More Project Pink webinars are lined up for the rest of the year to promote breast cancer awareness and self-care for teachers,” said Paula Ruelan, AVP – Reputation and Brand Management Head. – Rappler.com