Origin of the Ribbon
By October, Heidi Onda became so frustrated with being rejected by hospital administrators and marketing depart- ments that she asked her husband, Pierre, to make a white ribbon out of plywood to hang on their front door. “No one can stop me from putting a white ribbon up on my own house!” she said. Pierre made the ribbon with a sticker reading “Lung Cancer Awareness,” and Heidi shared pictures of it on a private Facebook page for lung cancer survivors in Colorado. Everyone loved the images of the Ondas’ ribbon and began asking for their own.
Heidi and Pierre turned their garage into a ribbon-making warehouse and began personally creating and shipping white ribbons all over the country, each one signed by its maker. Heidi even hand- writes a personal note to accompany each ribbon she and Pierre send. Fighting the lung cancer battle is very personal and unique to every person affected by lung cancer; these signed ribbons and notes remain a very important part of the effort, both to Heidi and to those receiving a ribbon.
Thank you ...