Deptford Township’s municipal building officially turned the pink spotlights on shortly before sunset of the first day of the month.
Head up Cooper Street and turn onto Highland Road and you’ll see more pink: the Deptford Free Public Library is also sporting pink lighting outside. Two pink ribbon decorations are lit up outside South Jersey Federal Credit Union on Hurffville Road all day and all night.
October marks Breast Cancer Awareness month and Deptford is “Lighting the Town Pink” everywhere to remember the lost and celebrate the survivors. The initiative was announced at a council meeting at the beginning of the month, with an official ceremony outside the municipal building and remarks from the mayor and council.
For some, the cause is a very personal matter.
Ken Barnshaw, currently serving his fourth term on Deptford Township Council, lost both his mother and sister to breast cancer. His mother, Ethel Barnshaw, died at age 58. His sister, Ethel Mae Barnshaw, died at 59.
“I was in my late 20s (when my mom died),” Barnshaw said. “I’ve felt the destruction of what cancer has done to a family and how we have to stop in our tracks and be supportive and understanding. (Offering) support to your family is so important every day, every moment is cherished.”
Barnshaw works as the senior vice president of government affairs and community relations at South Jersey Federal Credit Union, where he’s helping to memorialize his lost family members. He added two pink ribbons onto a wall in the lobby one morning, helping to contribute to the $800 the company raised for breast cancer awareness and research just during the first week of October.
At his former, long-time job, Barnshaw was connected to cancer, too.
“I’m former president of the Deptford ambulance squad, so I personally have been out in my 40 years, I’m retired now, I was out taking folks to cancer treatments and I saw the suffering,” he said. “Just the people we talk to, being an advocate in the community to support these processes, the fundraising events. This is an everyday event for us anymore. It’s sad, but it’s reality.”
Barnshaw is energized by the support he sees in the Deptford community and South Jersey at large, along with seeing how much has changed in the fight since his mom lost her own battle some 40 years ago. As he spoke one morning outside his office, Claire Davis, a co-worker, made her way through the lobby.
Davis is the same age Barnshaw’s sister was when she lost her battle with cancer. Davis was diagnosed with breast cancer 10 years ago and is currently a proud survivor.
“I feel like if it wasn’t for the community and everyone going out for the fundraising and research, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Davis said. “They came so far and made so many accomplishments that there is a much higher survival rate for breast cancer these days. I do think they will find a cure, hopefully in my time, before it affects either one of my daughters. It’s really important to me.”
Along with selling the ribbons for the lobbies of their South Jersey branches, South Jersey Federal Credit Union is continuing its partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper with a charity run, with donors getting the perk of being able to wear jeans to work for a day; a Bras for a Cause event; and donating pink and teal bicycles to be auctioned off at a Pink and Teal event.
But for people like Barnshaw and Davis, the battle for awareness and research funds won’t be set aside once the calendar turns to November. The pink lights might go out around town, but Barnshaw and Davis will be among the many residents in town continuing their efforts to fight the deadly disease.
Barnshaw believes it’s that passion that will help researchers eventually find a cure.
“I see more advanced treatment and studies,” he said. “It’s all because of the efforts, it’s because people care about this. We’re all in this together. I just feel very positive. My strength comes from the survivors. When I attend a Pink and Teal event and I see a sea of 900 women – t’s about the Claire Davises of the world.
“But we don’t forget the Ethel Barnshaws and Ethel Mae Barnshaws, who cancer took from us. They are the icons, the idols that cancer has defeated. (Claire) is the resistance. And you know what, we have no choice in the matter other than to get involved. We don’t want to see the family tragedies that affected my family and thousands of other families, we need to move forward.”
