BE IN THE PINK OF HEALTH
Hundreds of riders and volunteers will tomorrow launch the 7th Pink Caravan, a pan-uAE journey to promote awareness about the importance of early breast cancer detection
sharjah — Hundreds of riders and volunteers will launch a panUAE drive and ride on Tuesday to promote awareness about the importance of early detection of breast cancer.
The 7th ride of the Pink Caravan, an initiative by the Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP), will take place under the theme “Seven Years… For Seven Emirates.”
Pink Caravan Ride 2017 will dispense free health advice and free medical screenings to all community segments across the UAE before it wraps up its 10-day journey in Abu Dhabi on March 17.
Reem BinKaram, chairperson of the Higher Organising Committee of the Pink Caravan Ride, said: “We are inspired by the initiative launched by the President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who declared 2017 as the Year of Giving, which considers volunteering instrumental to realising its goals.”
Since its inception in 2011, the Pink Caravan Ride has made massive strides in terms of free screening.
The Pink Caravan’s unsung heroes have dedicated a total of 202,790 volunteer hours in serving the campaign’s efforts — that’s the equivalent of working every hour for 23 solid years. Riders, doctors, nurses, administrative and support helpers and many more have proved that the spirit of giving knows no boundaries in generosity and self-sacrifice.
“The dedication of over 200,000 volunteer hours has had a positive impact on the lives of many people and contributed significantly to saving the lives of dozens of breast cancer patients,” she said.
The first of the Pink Caravan Ride’s activities is its opening ceremony which takes place on Tuesday at the Sharjah Equestrian and Racing Club.
The second of the events is the Pink Caravan Children’s Ride which takes place on March 10. Young advocates will gather with their horses to travel over a 7km route, accompanied by riders from the Dubai Riding for the Disabled institute who will undertake a 1.5km ride.
On day five, women will be treated to a special ‘Pink Yoga’ evening event, the third of the ride’s activities.
The Khalid Lagoon Corniche in Sharjah is the venue for the sporting activity ‘Pink Strides - SHJ,’ which will take place on March 12 involving participants undertaking a 7km journey on foot to promote women’s physical fitness and encourage them to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
The fifth of Pink Caravan’s seven activities for 2017 is ‘Pink Bite,’ which continues its success from last year’s event which raised Dh51,000. This year, seven renowned Pink Caravan ambassadors will team up with seven prominent local and international chefs in a cook-off to host a special culinary showcase during which they will prepare pink-coloured Emirati ingredients dishes on March 14.
The ‘Pink Regatta’ enables boat owners to join the Pink Caravan and set sail in support of the Pink Caravan’s mission. It will take place on March 15 on Palm Island in Dubai.
The Pink Caravan’s closing ceremony in Abu Dhabi on March 17 will see ‘Pink Strides - AD’ where people of all ages will join a 7km walk around the premises of Zayed Sports City.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com