Lake Como Day Shirt Sale Raise $250 for Breast Cancer

The pink tee-shirt sales at last weekend's Lake Como came about when the borough's tourism commission began debating what color to use for the souvenir tops.

The commission, headed by Councilman Brian Wilton, deferred to Deputy Borough Clerk Amy Sanborn, a key player in organizing the lakeside event held on the first Saturday in October.

Recognizing that October has been designated as breast cancer awareness month by charities that assist those impacted by the deadly disease, Sanborn selected pink.

"We then discussed the idea of donating some of the money [from tee-shirt sales] to a breast cancer charity," Wilton explained.

Having played host to the fledgling Mama Mare Breast Cancer Foundation last March for a 5K run around Lake Como, the commission picked the Easton, Pa.-based organization as the beneficiary, Wilton said.

The race known as the "DeFeet Breast Cancer 5K" attracted more than 900 runners and walkers to Lake Como. On the heels of its success, the race will return to town in late March of 2012, Wilton noted.

"We settled on Mama Mare because they have a connection to Lake Como through the 5K," Wilton said.

At last Saturday's Lake Como Day, the commemorative pink tee-shirts yielded a little bit of green for Mama Mare, which provides support services for breast cancer patients. Many of those services have been provided to patients in Central New Jersey according to the organization's website.

Altogether the tourism commission raised $250 raised through tee-shirt sales during the day long community event, said Wilton, himself sporting a pink dress shirt during Tuesday night's council meeting.

A Mama Mare representative will receive the proceeds from the sales during the council's next scheduled meeting on Oct. 18, said Wilton. He reminded his governing body colleagues to remember to also wear pink clothing that night.

As to the color and design of the Lake Como Day tee-shirts, he praised Sanborn for choosing the color scheme, Wilton said.

"I thought they were very nice colors, but as usual Amy deserves the credit," he said. "She worked extremely hard to see that Lake Como Day went off without a hitch."

The Mama Mare Breast Cancer Foundation has also partnered with researchers at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick to find a cure for breast cancer according to its website.

Founded in Feb. 2010 by Pennsylvania resident Krista Kasper, the foundation is named for her mother Mary Ellen Pernice, known as "Mama Mare" to family and friends.

Pernice died from stage four breast cancer in Dec. 2009 at the age of 51. Though heartbroken, Kasper wanted to reach out to other families and to breast cancer patients who had were going through similar trials according to the website.

The foundation also has a Facebook page and stages several fundraisers in New Jersey.

Wilton also thanked the tourism commission, the Lake Como Business Association, fellow borough officials and the police and public works department for their efforts in bringing about a successful community event.