/ 202 COVER STORY /
Coming together
to fight
breast cancer
C
by Kimberly Hosey
ancer starts small. It spreads. It can be
influenced from countless factors. It’s
hard to pinpoint exactly where or when it
starts, but it can grow big, quickly.
Maybe it’s fitting then – it’s certainly
encouraging – that the same things are
true of the effort to fight cancer and
the community that has grown around
supporting victims and survivors.
In the East Valley the fight to battle
cancer, from supporting research to
supporting one another, ranges from
celebrities to hardworking volunteers,
from those facing cancer to those who
have lost a loved one to the disease. And
the connections that have sprung from
the efforts often do as much to help as
pledges and fundraising efforts.
As Phoenix Fashion Week kicks off
Oct. 1, the signature Fashionably Pink
Celebrity Fashion Show will feature local
icons and personalities in unique pink
designer outfits – but at least one featured
celebrity says she’s more awed by the
breast cancer survivors who will also be
wearing designer pieces and walking.
Kyle Unfug, a Chandler resident
and on-air personality on the Johnjay
and Rich program on 104.7 FM, will
walk for her fifth year in a row. She has
been participating in the event since its
inception. She’s not a breast cancer victim
or survivor, but Unfug says breast cancer
22
has touched her life personally, and she’s
amazed and inspired by the survivors she’s
met through the Fashionably Pink show.
The show raises money for breast
cancer support; including funding
mammograms for lower-income mothers,
purchasing wigs for chemotherapy
patients and supporting the “Don’t be a
Chump! Check for a Lump!” initiative.
However, the support runs much deeper.
“When we first started this thing we
said it would be cool to get celebrities
to help raise awareness, but my personal
idea was to find survivors of breast cancer,
because those are the real celebrities. They
get the standing ovations. People just start
getting out of their chairs and applauding
them, I just know, on some level, that
helps,” says Phoenix Fashion Week
Executive Director Brian Hill.
“Breast cancer affects all of us, not
necessarily physically, but you know
someone or you will know someone affected
by breast cancer, so I was immediately
drawn to the event,” says Unfug.
Kyle Unfug, Chandler resident and morning host with
Johnjay and Rich on 104.7 KissFM, will walk for the
fifth year in Phoenix Fashion Week’s Fashionably
Pink show supporting breast cancer survivors.
202 magazine / october 2013 / 202magazine.com