User talk:Mnavarrete4

Celebrity Involvement
Chicago Bull's player, Dennis Rodman gave tribute to the Y-ME Breast Cancer organization. Suspended after kicking a cameraman, Rodman decided to donate his funds to charity by playing for free in his first 11 games. Director of patient services for Y-ME, Michelle Merlin, was stunned by Rodman's response and addresses that he even dyed his hair pink for Mother's Day in April the previous year to '97 in support of breast cancer awareness. Dennis Rodman donated his salary in a home game against Orlando - $50,000 to $100,000 - to the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization. Dennis remarks, "Y-ME has helped many women and their families cope with breast cancer, a disease that has affected my family. Women with breast cancer need a place to go that helps them to get the skills and the attitude they need to fight this disease."

One of the leading female contemporary Jazz artist's, Keiko Matsui, promoted breast cancer awareness to help educate and build funds for the cause. Matsui performed a series of concerts, featuring a week of "House of Pink" shows at the House of Blues, where proceeds benefited the Y-ME Organization. Matsui's Hope Tour first stopped in Chicago on May 5th, 1997, and part of the Paint the Town Pink Program leading up to the Y-ME Mother's Day Race Against Breast Cancer

Y-ME Organization
The 1997 Y-ME race was a pivotal year for the organization as it marked the 6th annual race in Chicago's Grant Park. Race Co-Chair, Linda Frosolone and her co-chairpersons, Beth Apley and Ruth Brody worked on securing commitments from partners like American Airlines, Boston Market, the Chicago Tribune, and WNUA 95.5, and cultivating new alliances with Baxter International, NBC 5 Television, Ulta Cosmetics and Salon, 3M and TJ Maxxx. Apley was strongly involved since the beginning of Y-ME. Since then, she assisted the race creator Margaret Harte into the Junior League of Chicago and their base of volunteers, in 1990. The 1997 race featured a 5K race throughout the streets of Chicago along with a 2-mile lakefront walk.

The Y-ME Organization's mission was to raise breast cancer awareness, and called upon the Chicagoland community to show its support for those fighting breast cancer. Paint the Town Pink was created out of the Y-ME Organization by Paula Harris and Amy Harris, sister-in-laws, both eager to spread awareness. Approximately one month a year prior to the '97 race, "pink ribbons hung from Chicago landmarks, pink banners lined city streets, pink lights beamed from building rooftops, and pink window displays graced retail stores, big and small."