By Anabel Kissel
What would you like to see our cancer program accomplish in the next three to five years that we don’t currently offer?
Jennifer Griffin, a nurse and breast health navigator in Gwinnett, knew the answer to this question instantly. She and Bobbie Menneg, a breast cancer survivor and support group facilitator, have spent countless hours working together with cancer patients, seeing first-hand the hardships these women faced. It was hospital bills, transportation, childcare and trying to keep hope, but they also saw the difference a small act of kindness—a meal or a supportive conversation—could make. They knew if they gave their community the opportunity, they would show up for these patients, and Paint Gwinnett Pink was born.
Griffin and Menneg had two goals for Paint Gwinnett Pink. The first, to bring the community together—families, survivors, businesses, healthcare providers—to celebrate the survivors, mourn the lost and support breast cancer patients, walking alongside them through the hardest battle of their lives. The second goal was to raise funds to support local breast cancer patients. For the inaugural event, they set an ambitious goal of raising $25,000.
The first Paint Gwinnett Pink 5K far exceeded that goal, raising over $125,000. Since then, the event has raised $3.8 million, which has funded 3D tomosynthesis mammography technology for seven Northside Hospital breast imaging locations across Gwinnett, increasing the odds of early detection in local patients. Griffin says that, “for [her] personally, the greatest reward is knowing that this event has contributed to saving lives. Every woman whose breast cancer is detected earlier because of this technology represents the very reason we started Paint Gwinnett Pink. That’s a legacy that extends far beyond a single event.”
Over the last eleven years, Paint Gwinnett Pink has become so much more than just a fundraiser or a 5K. It’s a movement of hope, a community choosing to stand together. It’s lives saved and it’s families honoring the ones they’ve lost. It’s celebrating every milestone, every completed treatment. Most of all, it’s breast cancer patients realizing they are not alone. That’s what Paint Gwinnett Pink is, and it’s all because Bobbie Menneg and Jennifer Griffin were willing to ask more of their community, and Gwinnett answered.