Think Pink Bahrain, a non-profit initiative that operates under the umbrella of Bahrain Cancer Society (BCS) raised BD30,000 ($80,000) in support of a nationwide breast cancer screening drive.

The money was raised through its annual charity gala dinner held during 'World Breast Cancer Awareness' month last October and also through various donations from the local community.

In May last year, Think Pink also raised BD4,000 from its second annual women-only golf tournament held at the Riffa Golf Club.

The donations were given to the BCS, which will use the money to support its mammography drive launched in February 2006.

The initiative targets 52,000 women, aged 40 and above and invites them to come for a mammogram examination at their local health centre.

The money comes from two annual fund-raising events and donations collected from companies and individuals throughout the year.

Its activities are co-ordinated by 10 Bahraini and expatriate volunteers, headed by Think Pink Bahrain founder Julie Sparkel.

Sparkel said the initiative was gaining more and more support every year and this could be seen with the amount raised doubling from BD17,000 in 2006 to BD34,000 from events in 2007.

'We had many fitness centres get involved and World Beat Fitness raised over BD6,000 from their open day - which was our largest single donation.

'We also had children who gave 100 and 200 fils and people giving up their birthday money.'

Sparkel launched Think Pink Bahrain in 2005, following a personal history of benign breast lumps. Her main aim was to increase breast cancer awareness among the local community and encourage women to regularly check their breasts.

The Bahrain-based intensive care nurse said Think Pink Bahrain is about taking the fear out of breast cancer by empowering women to check their breasts and go for a mammogram.

The donation was presented by Sparkel to BCS support group head and Bahrain Nursing Society president Rula Al Saffar.-TradeArabia News Service