It's something we can't ignore, and we need to talk about it. Breast cancer affects MILLIONS OF LIVES each year.

Some food for thought on your Friday afternoon, direct from the American Cancer Society:

• About 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer in women
• About 57,650 new cases of carcinoma in situ (CIS) will be found (CIS is non-invasive and is the earliest form of breast cancer).
• About 39,520 deaths from breast cancer (women)
• The chance of a woman having breast cancer in her life is a little under 1 in 8
• The chance of dying from breast cancer is 1 in 35

The numbers are depressing, and probably not what you want to see on a Friday before a long weekend. However, they’re real numbers. Can you honestly say you’ve never met anyone that’s had, died or survived from breast cancer?

It’s a staggering situation.

So many friends, so many loved ones. And everyone that’s around them has been affected by the tolls of the illness, from husbands to children to parents.

But, there’s something that can be done about it.

Awareness, prevention, research. The American Cancer Society is striving for all three of these achievements through their Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign. Every year, they host a walk in various cities around the country where people fundraise, sponsor and donate, finally culminating in a walk honoring victims, survivors and those currently struggling with the disease. It’s a beautiful gesture and a great cause.

That’s why we, here at Emmer, are putting on our “pink bra” and participating in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Gainesville, taking place on October 22. We’ve put together The Emmer Group Team and the entire company, including Emmer Development, Emmer Management and Gibraltar Title are all raising funds, recruiting sponsors and walking in the event. We’ve turned everything pink- from our logo to our Twitter background to the banner you see at the top of your screen.

We would love it if you donated to our team page, or even started your own team and participated right alongside us. And, on September 28, we’ll be hosting a rally at Saboréin Gainesville to raise funds for Making Strides. We’ll fill you in on even more details about the rally in a later post, and how you can buy a ticket for the awesome event.

We know it’s Friday and this isn’t something we normally talk about right before a holiday, but maybe we should. Look at the positive of talking about it: we’re spreading awareness about donations, spreading awareness about the event, and even more important, we’retalking about the cancer.

If one woman considers getting a check up, or one woman has the disease caught early because we talk about it, then really, this isn’t negative at all. We’ve saved a life.

And THAT’S what makes a happy holiday.

Have you, or someone you know, faced breast cancer? Tell us there story- we want to celebrate lives!