The generosity of pink
Published 12:01 pm Sunday, February 9, 2014
A group of four hit the chilly waters of East Side Lake last year’s Polar Plunge for Pink. The event returns at 3 p.m. on East Side Lake on Feb. 15. Herald file photos
One of the biggest events to come out of Austin in years will officially kick off next Friday as the third annual Paint the Town Pink cancer research fundraising event kicks off. For Kathi Finley, kickoff represents months of hard work and perseverance.
“It has been very rewarding,” the new Paint the Town Pink director said. “I’ve gotten to meet so many new people not only in Austin but in the surrounding communities.”
Finley knows a thing or two about how cancer affects the community. Her mother went through treatment for cancer, during which she met Barb Nelson, an Austin resident who shared her story of fighting against cancer during last year’s Paint the Town Pink and who ultimately lost her life to the disease last summer. Finley became good friends with Nelson.
“It’s been pretty emotional,” Finley said. “I thought long and hard about doing [this job]. But really thinking about the people in my life that it affects is a huge motivator.”
And Finley predicts other people will be just as motivated to volunteer and give to breast cancer research at the Hormel Institute. Paint the Town Pink organizers hope to raise more than $150,000 in funding this year through several days of events.
Though Paint the Town Pink festivities technically kick off in Austin on Feb. 14, Paint the Town Pink activities have gone on throughout the area for the past several weeks. Brownsdale hosted its own Paint the Town Pink weekend Feb. 7-9, Rose Creek residents got in on the fundraising fun, and almost every Austin High School sport is giving back to Paint the Town Pink in some way.
Several AHS sports events this week will be Paint the Town Pink-themed, including the AHS girls basketball game at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, boys hockey game at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15.
Members of the Bruins mob CJ Smith after scoring the winning goal of the shootout with Brookings at last year’s Paint the Rink Pink, which was the starting point of Paint the Town Pink four years ago. From there the city and now county effort has grown into a large fundraiser. Herald file photo
“I don’t think they have a single sporting group that hasn’t or isn’t doing a pink event,” Finley said.
Classic Paint the Town Pink events like Paint the Rink Pink at the Austin Bruins game and the Plunging for Pink fundraiser are scheduled as well. Plunging for Pink will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15, at East Side Lake. The fourth annual Paint the Rink Pink, the event that started it all and prompted volunteers to organize so many breast cancer research fundraisers, will take place at 7:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. The Bruins take on the Aberdeen Wings and will continue the tradition of a post-game jersey auction.
There’s plenty of other events to catch throughout the week, though Finley isn’t surprised by how many people are eager to help the cause.
“We live in a very, very generous community, not only thinking of Paint the Town Pink,” Finely said. “I’m just so proud to live here, I really am. And we just live in a great community.”