When we visit Queens-area high schools for our Be A Friend To Your Mother breast cancer education workshops, we love it when schools get involved by doing additional awareness activities and fundraising.

School-wide activities that get students engaged outside the classroom can be a great way to get deeper understanding of breast cancer prevention skills like the breast self-exam, healthy nutrition and physical fitness. Students whose parents have been diagnosed with cancer (of which there are many!) make great project leaders. Their personal passion for the cause of cancer prevention helps educate their peers in meaningful and effective ways. Events that also involve the community and family members outside the school extend breast cancer outreach even further.

Here’s some fun and healthy breast cancer awareness and fundraising ideas that can be used throughout the school year, during Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, or to complement an in-class breast cancer educational unit.

1. Dress down/jeans/hat/pajama days—Let the dress code take a break for the day! This is a great way to let students (and teachers!) let loose, get creative and show their personality. “Charge” for the privilege of dressing down and donate to a local breast cancer non-profit. Bonus if the outfits are pink and bring awareness to the community.
2. T-shirt sale—have students design their own
3. Pink costume contest—raise money by charging entry fees (this is great in conjunction with Halloween and Breast Cancer Awareness month in October)
4. Dress the school mascot in pink
5. Get the sports teams in pink t-shirts
6. Dress the principal or teachers in pink—students donate ridiculous pink wardrobe items and make donations to see their favorite teachers dressed in pink (photos and videos are a fun bonus!)
7. Teachers in Jail—students raise money to take the period off, either staying in class or going to the gym (bonus: teachers get to take a break from teaching and catch up on paperwork or even take a nap)
8. Penny Wars—have different school clubs, sports teams, grade levels or homerooms compete to see who can raise the most change for a cause (also great to compete against other school!)
9. Raise money to support a student’s or a family member of a student’s battle against cancer—even if insurance is fully covering breast cancer treatment, there are many services that help make life easier for a family struggling with a cancer diagnosis (a housecleaning service for example, if often a godsend)
10. Dance-athon—students get donations from friends and family for every hour danced, give awards for best outfit, best moves, and highest fundraisers
11. Read-athon—students get donations from friends and family for every book they read, give awards for most books read, most money raised, and a special breast cancer awareness award for reading a special list of cancer-related titles
12. Skate-athon—get sponsors to “pay” for every hour of skating, pink costumes a bonus
13. Jump-athon—at a local trampoline park
14. Hike-athon or Walk-athon—get sponsors to “pay” for every mile of hiking, pink costumes a bonus
15. Hula Hoop Contest—who can go the longest?
16. Serve-athon—get sponsors to “pay” for every hour of volunteer work, like cleaning up a beach (bonus if the service is breast cancer related)
17. Sell healthy cookbooks—students create their own recipes or collect recipes from family members; this is a great way to extend breast cancer outreach to family members and get students thinking about good nutrition
18. Pink lemonade stand
19. Cook Off—have a cooking competition for healthy items like salads, bean dishes, and vegetarian meals, entrance fee allows participants to taste the offerings, awards given to best in different food divisions

Are you having a breast cancer awareness day at your Queens-area school? We’d love to get involved and offer our free Be A Friend To Your Mother breast health education workshop to students. Contact SHAREing & CAREing today!