I love Touring in Pink!

From Development Coordinator, Kristi Okwuonu….enjoy!!

I am so excited that Tour de Pink is two months away. Registration is open, teams are forming and money is being raised. I am overwhelmed every year at the number of participants, sponsors and volunteers that join us for the ride (and many are returning). Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has signed up so far.

We are off to a great start with the planning of the event and certainly could not have done it without or AMAZING and FABULOUS steering committee. This phenomenal group, led by Margaret Shelton (the BEST RIDE DIRECTOR EVER), dedicate hours upon hours to making Tour de Pink a huge success. They think about the riders, sponsors, volunteers and what is best for them at all times. They have been with us since the beginning, care about the cause and our mission, and are willing to do whatever it takes. I heart them all tremendously!

Prairie View A&M University and it’s staff and students… honestly there are not the words to express our gratitude. There is an ease, comfort and great joy knowing that we have built a relationship/partnership with such a fine institution. It is a pleasure to know that they have our backs and LOVE being there on campus every year. The student volunteers are the most enthusiastic, funny and kind group. 2011 will be a tough group to beat!

I love Tour de Pink. It is an wonderful event and I look forward to it every year. It brings more joy knowing that together we are raising tons of money to make sure that Pink Ribbons Project can continue to promote breast health, save lives and improve the quality of life for those touched by breast cancer.

If you love Tour de Pink as much as I do, have not registered yet and are reading my blog post…register TODAY ONLY with the discount code KRISTILOVESTDP and receive $5 off of your registration at www.tourdepink.org!  I love touring in pink so join me for the 2012 Tour de Pink!

Silent Auction Sneak Peek… For the Guys!

A Sneak Peek  preview of the men inspired packages but I am sure a few ladies wouldn’t mind a round of golf and/or some great tickets to the Houston Astros, Houston Aeros and Houston Dynamo games!

Round of Golf for Four              

Donated By: Raveneaux Country Club

Enjoy a round of golf for four with carts at Raveneaux Country Club’s championship golf course.

“Men Men Men” Package

Donated By: Hamilton Shirts, Houston National Golf Club

 A Round of golf for four with carts at Sterling Country Club, a Houston National Golf Course and treat yourself to one made-to-measure men’s shirt from Houston’s own, Hamilton Shirts.

Houston Sports Fan Package

Donated By: Greenberg Traurig, Houston Aeros, McRee Ford

Enjoy Four tickets to a Houston Astros  2012 season game with parking pass, Four lower level corner seats tickets to Houston Aeros 2012-2013 regular season game, and four tickets to the SOLD OUT Houston Dynamo game on opening day(Saturday, May 12, 2012) of the new BBVA Compass Stadium. Let’s go Houston!!!!

* Subject to availability. 

 

To purchase tickets starting at $45,  click: Pink at the Brown Tickets!

 

Pink at the Brown Details:

7:00 pm:  Wortham Opens & Silent Auction Begins

8:00 pm:  Curtain followed by a Dessert & Champagne Reception

9:45 pm:  Silent Auction Closes

Pink at the Brown will feature works from:

Alley Theatre

Da Camera of Houston

Houston BalletHouston Grand Opera

Houston Symphony

Society for the Performing Arts

Silent Auction Sneak Peek … TRIPS!

Summer is upon us….which means time for a vacation and look here are two already planned for  you!

These two silent auction packaged trips will be featured at Pink at the Brown presented by Mach Industrial Group, Inc along with many other packages not too be missed.

Perfect Trip for the Art Lover!   Santa Fe, New Mexico

Donated By: Geronimo, McRee Ford, Michael Dale, Ten Thousand Waves

Soak up the culture in beautiful Santa Fe! Enjoy a one-week stay at this picture perfect two bedroom, two bath Canyon Road home.

The stay includes use of a 2011 Ford Edge Car and a gift certificate for dinner for two at award-winning restaurant, Geronimo (less gratuity, tax and alcohol). Spend an afternoon getting lost in the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum with your four guest passes, the only museum in the world dedicated to an internationally known American Woman Artist.  End your week at the unique mountain spa, Ten Thousand Waves for a premium hot bath for two!

*Subject to availability. Some date restrictions apply. Expires May 2013

Texas Beach Get Away Package Galveston, Texas

Donated By: Shelly and Marty Power, Schlitterbahn Galveston Island Waterpark, Sealed Luxury Coolers, The Rafte Family

Watch the gorgeous sunsets in Galveston Island at a Pirates Cove two bedroom, one bath condo for a week-long stay.

Included in your stay will be a round of golf for four with carts at Galveston Country Club, two all day passes to the family favorite Schlittrerbahn Galveston Island Waterpark. When spending the day on the beach don’t forget to bring your luxury sealed cooler and your pink beach chair. *Subject to availability, Some date restrictions apply. Expires May 2013

To purchase tickets starting at $45,  click: Pink at the Brown Tickets!

Pink at the Brown Details:

7:00 pm:  Wortham Opens & Silent Auction Begins

8:00 pm:  Curtain followed by a Dessert & Champagne Reception

9:45 pm:  Silent Auction Closes

Pink at the Brown will feature works from:

Alley Theatre

Da Camera of Houston

Houston Ballet

Houston Grand Opera

Houston Symphony

Society for the Performing Arts

Silent Auction Sneak Peek, Just for the ladies!

Pink at the Brown presented by Mach Industrial Group, Inc is just around the corner, May 10, 2012!

This year we have received some AMAZING silent auction donations and we couldn’t wait any longer to share with you. Here is an official sneak peek at some of the silent auction items and packages just for the ladies!

Couture Lunch, Donated By: Saks Fifth Avenue 

Enjoy lunch for ten at 51Fifteen Restaurant & Lounge at Houston Galleria’s Saks Fifth Avenue. Followed by make-overs and party favors at the cosmetic counter. The perfect afternoon for you and your lucky friends! *Must be redeemed by July 27, 2012.

 Cheeky Girls Night Out, Donated By: Cheeky Vintage

 You and ten of your best girlfriends enjoy a night of shopping at Cheeky Vintage and  one $100 gift card towards any purchase. *Must be redeemed by September, 2012.

The Pink Crown, Donated By: Elaine Turner Designs

 Grab your Elaine Turner fuchsia snake clutch and meet your friends at Elaine Turner’s Rice Village store for a private shopping party with cocktails, light bites and receive 20% off all purchases! *Subject to availability, spirits and gratuity not included. 

Western Haute Couture, Donated By: Double D Ranch

 Step out in this Four Corner Maxi Dress in Rambler Rose Traveler turquoise and the God’s Eye Jacket made of 100% sheep from the Double D Ranch spring 2012 collection.

 Pink Swarovski Poppy hand-woven brooch, Donated By: Mindy Lam for Tootsies

 

Chanel Sunglasses, Donated By: The Eye Gallery

 Chanel’s spring 2012 season sunglasses with Tweed-effect acetate play in and out and metallic CC signature.

Kalo Sterling Silver Circle Brooch with Cherries,  Donated By: Past Era Antique Jewelry

A sterling silver Chicago Arts & crafts signed Kalo openwork circle brooch depicting a cluster of cherries and leaves. American, circa 1920. Dimensions: 2 7/8” in diameter

Make sure to keep checking the blog, more silent auction sneak peek’s coming your way!

To purchase tickets starting at $45,  click: Pink at the Brown Tickets!

Pink at the Brown Details:

7:00 pm:  Wortham Opens & Silent Auction Begins

8:00 pm:  Curtain followed by a Dessert & Champagne Reception

9:45 pm:  Silent Auction Closes

Pink at the Brown will feature works from:

Alley Theatre

Da Camera of Houston

Houston Ballet

Houston Grand Opera

Houston Symphony

Society for the Performing Arts

TWAS THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS AT THE PINK RIBBONS OFFICE….

And the staff was full of holiday cheer!  The Pink Ribbons office is decked out for the holiday season with a festive wreath on the front door to greet you, a pink tree, stockings hung at each desk, Christmas music playing in the afternoons and TOO many cookies and goodies from our wonderful friends!  You might say we enjoy this time of year around here.

December also means I have completed my first year on staff.  It’s hard to believe that in a couple of weeks, we will be back at our Hoopla Station at Niko Niko’s restaurant cheering on the runners in the Chevron Marathon. It seems we were there not that long ago.  I had been on staff for one week when I went to that first event. It was a great time!  We would love to have you join us on January 15^th, for the 2012 Chevron Marathon. We will be there once again giving our support and making some noise!

Happy Holidays from the Pink Ribbons Project Staff

The Annual Pink Partners Wreath Making Party was a Success!

A special thank you to our Pink Partner Chair, Amy Waltz for another successful event. Hosted in the home of Pink Partner, Kathleen Pennington, Pink Partner members and staff came together to make holiday wreaths for uninsured women in the Greater Houston community. In the hopes of bringing a little holiday cheer to the lives of patients receiving their screening mammogram, our wreath making team came together to make 50 stunning holiday wreaths.

The wreaths were donated to two programs in the community funded by Pink Ribbons Project, The Rose Pink Days and San Jose Clinic’s Milagros de Miercoles. LaTanya Mitchell-Sam of The Rose Galleria and Ruben Molina, Director of Medical Services at San Jose Clinic accepted the wreaths to be distributed to the women receiving their potential life-saving services.

Thanks to our Pink Partners and staff for dedicating their time and talent to making these beautiful holiday wreaths. We appreciate your commitment and dedication to another program being a little cheer into the lives of many women.

 

Season’s Greetings and Best Wishes in the New Year!!!

-Pink Ribbons Project Staff

Loubel, Rozlind, Megan, Kristi, and Faye

Give the Gift of Life this Holiday Season!

December is finally here and we couldn’t be more excited about the upcoming holidays!  We would like to invite you to “Make a Gift of Life” instead of spending hours at the mall searching for the perfect gift for your friends and family.

With every $165 donation to The Giving Tree Program at Pink Ribbons Project, we will donate a screening mammogram to be used by someone in the Greater Houston Community who is medically underserved and couldn’t otherwise afford this life saving service.  Each donation can be made In Honor or In Memory of a loved one.

Pink Ribbons Project has already donated 22 mammograms this month through The Giving Tree Program and later in the week will donate 25 more!  We hope to continue increasing this number through the end of the month!  You could be saving a life by providing a screening mammogram this holiday season.

To give please visit:  http://www.pinkribbons.org/thegivingtree/

GIVE TODAY TO SAVE SOMEONE’S TOMORROW!!!!

PHEW what a crazy good but amazing last two months!

I honor of all of our survivors, memory of those we have lost and the many affected by breast cancer our staff, volunteers, supporters and friends have been dedicated to the fight against breast cancer by bringing awareness to and raising funds for our community. September and October have come and gone but much was accomplished. We plan to slow down, just for a second to catch our breath before the holidays, and then off again to raise more awareness and funds to put to work in our community against the fight against breast cancer. We are able to use the arts to help save lives and improve the quality of life for those touched by breast cancer because of the incredible support from YOU.

 

Tour de Pink, Pink Ribbon Parade, Breast Health Summit, Serve Up a Cure, Pink Out at Sheldon ISD and Lamar High School, Pink Platter, Pink Pigeons, Loubel being honored as one of the Five Outstanding Young Houstonians, Debra King honored as a Halliburton Hometown Hero at the Texans game, Pink Aware, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Andrea Montgomery Designs, Pier 27 Party with a Purpose, Be the Cure Yoga Conference are a few things that have had us busy at work in September and October. Let me not forget to mention that Pink Ribbons Project’s wedding #3 of 2011 is in 18 days! Our sweet Meggie will go from Megan Neelley to Megan Zimont in 3 weeks. How in the world do we do it? With your help!!!

 

 

We could not be more thankful to everyone who has helped make these events a huge success. Our sponsors, volunteers, committee members, 3rd party event hosts, community partners, supporters, friends and family (and amazing interns who come home from college on TDP weekend) help make Pink Ribbons Project and our programs a success! Thank you, thank you, thank you a million times over for your continued support! We are so grateful for each and every one of you.

Happy Wednesday!!!

-Kristi

Oh… What a weekend!

Wow!  We are exhausted but exhilarated from the past weekend’s Tour de Pink activities!  We had great turn-outs for everything and the energy and enthusiasm from the participants and volunteers who joined us to kick-off Tour de Pink – we are less than one month away.

Tour de Pink survivor and novice training rides!

We had our first  of four survivor and novice training rides last Saturday at the Rice University Riding Loop.  Seven new cyclists – including one breast cancer survivor! – broke out their bikes and helmets (some for the first time in decades!) to start training for Tour de Pink.  Most of them had the goal to make it through the 12 mile route on ride day, but with the guidance of the Training Ride Captain Donna Plewa-Allen and many of our dedicated “Safety Mentors” (who are experienced cyclists who are out to give support) many of the novice riders are upping their goal to at least 23!  Bike Barn was also out bright and early in the morning to give a free demonstration on gears and proper bike maintenance.  Bike Barn is incredible!  We have three more training rides to go – every Saturday morning until Tour de Pink – and we would love to see any of you out there who need more time and support on your bike!  For more information please visit: https://secure2.convio.net/prp/site/SPageServer?pagename=train.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Packet Stuffing

Oh me, oh my!  Right when I don’t think that we can be more efficient or hard core – the Pink Ribbons Project staff puts me in awe with their organization and skill.  On Saturday morning staff and more than 40 volunteers were giving a 100% at our packet stuffing!  And… get this… in 2.5 hours they stuffed 2000 packets for the participants and cyclists of Tour de Pink 2011!!  It was simply incredible!  I arrived after the training ride to a group that was there for already two hours and still going strong!!  Thanks to the staff for being so prepared and to our presenting sponsor SoftLayer for providing their amazing office space in downtown Houston.

 

Tour de Pink Kick-Off Party

Can anyone say BBQ????  We had A BLAST at Blanco’s last Sunday kicking-off Tour de Pink with delicious BBQ, an awesome band and the best supporters ever!  Many thanks to Michael, Cindy, Christie, Mark and Susan for joining our current and past top fundraisers, sponsors and volunteers!  All our food was provided by the amazing people at SoftLayer!  Their competitive BBQ team drove in from Dallas the night before, cooked and smoked the food all night long and then dropped off 15 racks of ribs, 40 pounds of brisket and 40 pounds of pulled pork to Blanco’s the next day!  Truly remarkable hearts and recipes!!  Our guests loved the food, The Slags – an amazing band from Pasadena, and the camaraderie! We also raised more than $10,000 from the Pink Prime prize of a brand new iPad 2.  Merry Kay Engbrecht who has captained the Carrizo Oil Pink Pit Stop for the past six years and is going to ride this year raised $5000 in one day!

Pink Staff: Stephanie, Rozlind, Loubel and Kristi

AND…

The SoftLayer SLAYERS Val Stinson, and Cook Team from Dallas, Kelley, Steve (aka) Skinman and Sparky!!!!

(not shown: but still very much appreciated, Catherine)

 

…and for more please visit our Facebook page!

Have a wonderful week. – Loubel

ONE MONTH TO GO!

It is hard to believe that Tour de Pink 2011 is right around the corner!  September 18^th will be here in only a month!  This is the big event I have heard about and waited for since I joined the Pink Ribbons Project family in January.  The day’s fun and excitement will begin with the Tour de Pink ride and continue on at the Ride Festival with music, food and raffle prizes.  This is my first Tour de Pink and as a staffer and I cannot wait to see the event come together after all the months of preparation. The impact this event will have on me as a breast cancer survivor will be especially meaningful.  It is gratifying to know that I have a role in producing an event that brings together so many people whose lives have been touched by breast cancer and have the same goal to raise funds to educate and raise awareness.

 

There is still much to do in a short amount of time; and we can use your help to make it happen!

This Saturday is a great way to volunteer – at Tour de Pink Packet Stuffing!  Breakfast will be provided and as always, we will be busy and promise to have a little fun too!  Everyone who signs up for Tour de Pink will receive a bag full of goodies and this year, we are making 2,000 bags!!  Please come out and volunteer a few hours of your time.  We can’t do it alone!

 

Date: Saturday, August 20th

Time: 8am – 12 Noon

Location: SoftLayer offices, 315 Capitol St., Houston, TX 77002

RSVP required to: megan@pinkribbons.org

 

 

As always, thank you for your continued support!  Hope to see you Saturday – and we will definitely see you at Tour de Pink on September 18, 2011!

 

Stephanie Zerger

Administrative Associate