According to the breastcancer.org’s U.S. Breast Cancer Statistics, “About 1 in 8 U.S. women (just under 12 percent) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.”

Also, “In 2011, there were more than 2.6 million breast cancer survivors in the US.”

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, among other things. It is a very important and impactful cause; chances are most people on-campus know or know of at least one person who has breast cancer, had breast cancer or was lost because of the disease. It is incredibly prevalent in our current society, with only lung cancer accounting for more cancer-related deaths in women.

Something that might come as a shock to some people: men can get breast cancer, too.

“Males can be affected by this as well,” senior Lindsay Nash said. Nash is involved this year in the cause by selling t-shirts and helping to show support through the football team.

“My roommate and I designed the t-shirts and just went about promoting and selling them,” Nash said. “For the football game we went ahead and bought the (pink) tape for the guys. We just wanted to have a pink-out for the event.”

This is Nash’s first year being involved in this fundraising event.

“Last year Jenni Stumpf, a part of their breast cancer house, they used to have the house, she just asked me if I would help organize it this year,” Nash said.

This cause is a very important one for Nash and her family.

“My grandmother has breast cancer still and has had it in the past and so it’s something that is really dear to me,” Nash said.

Nash is not the only student showing support for the cause this month. Students in the Hamilton and Weinman apartments got together for a breast cancer awareness program on Oct. 18 to make t-shirts with tie-dye, puffy paint and other craft supplies to show their support.

“We decided to do this program because it’s something that we really wanted people to be aware of because it affects so many women and men in the United States,” junior Courtney Yearous said.

So far, Nash has found her fundraising experience very rewarding.

“We had a lot of people that came to the game and were supporting and said thank you because they had been affected,” Nash said. “Those kinds of stories really hit home to me. Just knowing they have the support makes them positive, it lifts their spirits.”

As of now, Nash is not sure where specifically the funds will go to, but the desire is for them to benefit the residents of Warren County.

“There’s the Susan G. Komen foundation up in Des Moines and then there is another one, Bras for the Cause that we’re going to try to work with as well,” Nash said. “We’re still working on where the funds are going to go. We do have some funds from last year that they didn’t dish out yet so what we’re going to try to do is work with the organizations up in Des Moines and try and use them for the Warren County people that have to go up there that are affected by breast cancer.”

Nash is very positive for the future of breast cancer and the research.

“I think they are very close to finding a cure for cancer as a whole,” Nash said. “Especially for breast cancer I think we are close to a cure. I’m passionate about finding it; it’s something that I’m interested in.”