Attending a White Ribbon Build Party

One of my fellow contributors wrote an article several months back about the launching of the White Ribbon Project by Heidi and Pierre Onda to foster increased lung cancer awareness. I recently attended a party at the home of one of my friends in the Chicago suburbs, focused on building some of these white ribbons!

Joining my lung cancer sisters and brothers

I’ve mentioned in previous articles how fortunate we are to have a close community of people living with lung cancer in the Chicago area. When my friend Michele offered to host a build party in her backyard, many of my lung cancer sisters and brothers didn’t hesitate to join in.

Due to COVID, opportunities to get together and see each other have been limited and this was for an excellent reason. Even super advocate Chris Draft came to town to join us and commemorate this event!

What is a White Ribbon Build party?

Well, those of us who participated in the event actually physically created these white ribbons, following the format set up by the Ondas to make sure they are all identical. We traced the ribbon shapes on plywood using a template, cut out and sanded the wooden ribbons, painted them white, and added stickers to say “Lung Cancer Awareness” once the two coats of paint had dried. As a group, we created 100 white ribbons at our event!

It was a very special day and really brought our community together. As a final touch, we each signed the back of several ribbons and added inspirational messages. I wrote “There’s lots of hope” on mine.

We all took ribbons home with us to share in the community to make more people aware of the frequency of lung cancer diagnoses and how anyone with lungs can get lung cancer. I plan to share my ribbons with my hospital and oncologist’s office at my next appointment in October and am hoping they will proudly display them in November for Lung Cancer Awareness Month and throughout the rest of the year as well!

A highlight from the party

One of the highlights of the White Ribbon Build event, in addition to lunching on all the delicious potluck food, was meeting the Ondas in person and spending some time talking with Heidi to learn more about her story and the inspiration behind the White Ribbon Project. Heidi and Pierre have been flying around the country all summer to give presentations about the project and attend events such as our Chicagoland build party.

Learn more about the White Ribbon Project

To read more about the White Ribbon Project and learn how to support the project goals, please check out the White Ribbon Project website. If you don’t already have a White Ribbon, you can request one on the website and find out how to coordinate a build party in your own community to spread lung cancer awareness!

Editor’s Note: We are extremely saddened to say that on June 23, 2024, Ivy Elkins passed away. Ivy’s advocacy efforts and writing continue to reach many. She will be deeply missed.