Pink Ribbon Jax has been raising money to help create cancer awareness and continue the grow the research associated with it for the past 15 years.
There are certain sponsors that have been with the nonprofit from the very beginning and one of those Underwood Jewelers.
“They’ve been with us since day one,” Pink Ribbon Jax chairwoman Marica Pendjer said.
It is a partnership that both Underwood and Pink Ribbon Jax is proud of, and it has led to Underwood’s hosting an annual three-day designer trunk show.
A kickoff to this year’s event was held Nov. 11 at Underwood’s Ponte Vedra and San Marco locations.
According to Pendjer, the organization chooses a focus for the money their raise based off of what is deemed would have the most impact at that time.
The pandemic and seeing what people had gone through over the past couple of years play a major role when deciding where to direct this year’s fundraising.
“We looked around and realized that so many women had missed their mammograms,” Pendjer said. “Whether it was due to losing their job or their insurance or just being hesitant to venture out during a pandemic and not making their appointments.”
As a result, Pink Ribbon Jax has set of goal of raising enough money to pay for 1,500 mammograms for uninsured and underinsured women and men in the northeast Florida area.
“Where you live, should not determine whether you live,” Pendjer said. “When you’re going through something like that (breast cancer) you always want support.”
However, she has found that so many people were not feeling that support because they felt isolated from so much of the world around them at the height of the pandemic.
Underwood’s trunk show helped them get closer to their projected goal, as 10% of the proceeds during the showcase went toward helping the cause.
After the Underwood’s trunk show, Pink Ribbon Jax is just $100 shy of meeting their goal. It was estimated that it would take $450,000 to fund 1,500 mammograms.
According to the American Cancer Society, many women with breast cancer have no symptoms, so a screening is considered the best way to find out if they have it.
“When breast cancer is caught early, there is a 98% survival rate,” Pendjer said.
Pink Ribbon Jax is an all-volunteer operation, which allows their expenses to remain low so that roughly 98 cents of every dollar raised goes directly to funding the cause.
Pendjer is trying to get that number up past 99 cents of every dollar that goes toward the cause.
“I think our sponsors love working with us because we are all volunteer and you know the funds raised are making a difference,” Pendjer said. “Every penny can go to the cause.”
A key part of their fundraising campaign is about educating the public of the importance of mammograms, which Baptist Health suggests should start being a routine procedure for women 45 years and older.
“It’s a two-fold message with education being a big part,” Pendjer said.
One form of spreading awareness was when many local businesses and communities lite up their buildings or structures pink in October as part of breast cancer awareness month.
“It was a wonderful message to send,” Pendjer said.
According to Pendjer, as of 2021, Pink Ribbon Jax has raised $2.1 million for its various initiatives in the fight against breast cancer.
Baptist Health and the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville are the primary beneficiaries of the organization’s fundraisers.
