Pink bake sale cause hits home

There was more to a Pink Ribbon Appeal bake sale on Friday than towers of cupcakes and fluffy pink icing.

Held by Paraparaumu's DoubleWinkel Real Estate, outside its Kapiti Lights premise, the bake sale helped to raise money for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation, while supporting one of the team's own staff members.

"We have a work colleague who was diagnosed with breast cancer very recently, within the last two months, and it has hit home to a lot of us because she's only just turned 39," DoubleWinkel Real Estate's Deborah Pallikaros said.

"A couple of weeks ago I decided to volunteer for the Pink Ribbon Appeal and put it out to the team, who joined me in hosting our own collection point, with a bake sale."

For the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which runs through the month of October, the Pink Ribbon Appeal took place around the country on Friday last week and over the weekend.

As part of the team's efforts to support breast cancer battlers and survivors, they wore pink t-shirts reminding locals to check their breasts.

Ms Pallikaros said it was lucky their colleague had gone for a check when she did, despite not having a noticeable lump.

Instead, she had noticed swelling, which continued to worsen and was initially believed to be an infection.

However, after a mammogram did not pick anything up, an ultrasound showed cancer was in her lymph nodes.

The mother of two, whose children are nine and five, was in the early stages of at least six months of chemotherapy, which would follow with a full mastectomy and more possible rounds of radiation and chemo.

"Most of us know someone who has had a scare or been through breast cancer," DoubleWinkel Real Estate's Dallas Nicholas said.

"For us, with our staff member being the age she is, it's pointed out how vigilant people need to be, no matter what their age."

To make a donation to the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation click here