October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and organizers of the annual Pink Gala on New Year’s Eve at The Factory in downtown Franklin are inviting the public to help kick off the event season Thursday, October 5, from 3 to 6 p.m. at Kelly Spalding Designs in Franklin.
Patrons will have an opportunity over wine and snacks to shop for a cause: commemorative “Tennessee Hope” T-shirts will be sold through the fall and winter, with all proceeds benefiting the Breast Health Center at Williamson Medical Center. Chemo relief kits will also be available for purchase, and Pink Gala Founder Kelly Spalding says the shop will donate a kit to a woman fighting breast cancer for each kit purchased by the public.
Spalding lost her mother to breast cancer, and later beat the disease herself. The Pink Gala was founded as a means to raise funds and awareness for the Breast Health Center at Williamson Medical Center.
“This is personal to me, and so many people ask what they can do to help,” Spalding says. “The best way to help is to buy a $25 chemo relief kit and help ease someone’s discomfort through chemotherapy, and buy a ticket to The Pink Gala. Those proceeds go to help women in this community who are battling breast cancer right now.”
The chemo relief kits include items such as Shea cream, cuticle balm and Clover’s Lip Smack, all made by hand with all-natural ingredients at 1818 Farms. Spalding says chemotherapy causes the skin and lips to become dry and itchy, and nails to be more sensitive.
“You’re also sensitive to perfumes and ingredients that might not have bothered you before. With all of that in mind, I created this kit to give some comfort to those going through chemotherapy and let them know their community cares about them,” she says. “Each kit is delivered with a personal note attached, which can come from the purchaser of the kit. It’s such a simple thing that goes a very long way.”
Also available for $25 are pink feather boas – light pink to honor those who have passed and bright pink for survivors and those who are fighting – that will be on display with the honorees’ names at the Pink Gala.
Tickets for the black-tie New Year’s Eve gala go on sale Thursday for the special price of $150 per person through the month of October. After Nov. 1, the price increases to $165 per person. The event will feature great food and drink, a wonderful silent auction, dancing to the Memphis Soul Revue and a Champagne toast at midnight.
Kelly Spalding Designs is located at 915 Columbia Avenue in downtown Franklin. For more information on the Pink Gala or to purchase tickets, visit www.ThePinkGala.com.
