Welcome to our final Monday in October and the end of our series of video blogs reconnecting with Pink Cart partners across the country.

It has been a blessing, and a privilege, to travel out to meet so many passionate people both involved in the cause, and finding creative ways to raise money to fund research. I hope you enjoyed meeting Beth Baldwin last week. She is a kind, compassionate and driven woman who will not take ‘no’ for an answer when it concerns raising money for the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund. Beth, her four actor brothers and indeed her entire family have worked tirelessly and raised in the order of $10,000,000 for cancer research. One thing that strikes me about that interview is, of the five people we went to visit, Beth was the only woman. Odd because our assumption is that fighting breast cancer ultimately is a woman’s issue, but what we know now is that the men in our lives, the ones who love and support us, and sometimes the ones who don’t even know us, are 100% committed to fighting alongside us.

Today, we return home to Grand Rapids, Michigan with our last, and most heart wrenching interview with Chad Stoub, Owner of EverKept Disposal. Chad and his brother, Jason, run a successful local hauling company and every time I see their garbage trucks I giggle... why? Because painted on the side the slogan reads “Two Calvin Grads Putting Their Education To Waste,” which is an inside joke for the locals, as Calvin College is a very highly respected Christian college in town.

The interview with Chad was fascinating, difficult, and oh so personal as he attempted to have a conversation with me while holding at bay the pain of a very close family member in the middle of her breast cancer battle. Chad is an entrepreneur through-and-through and is both creative and challenging by nature. He spoke about how survivors are passionate and ecstatic about having The Pink Cart, and in the next breath he throws out the ultimate challenge to the universe - to find the cure and just “get it done already.” None of us would disagree. We are anxious and desperate to find the cure to breast cancer and put a stop to losing our loved ones. We have fought hard, for a long time, and some are feeling fatigued. 

The Pink Cart team is proud of what we have been able to accomplish. To-date, we have raised and donated over $677,000 and our partners have taken The Pink Cart idea to their communities, raising and donating hundreds of thousands of dollars on their own. Together strong.

Now let’s kick that cancer to the curb, once and for all!

Jo-Anne

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