Shore Regional Rolls Out The Ribbons For Cancer Awareness

After seeing Monmouth Medical Center’s Roll Out The Ribbons campaign launched over the summer where multicolored ribbons symbolizing all forms of cancer adorned the Promenade of Hope, a half-mile stretch of railing along Long Branch’s boardwalk, Shore Regional administration, teachers, and students became inspired and decided to get involved. 

The high school has since planned a host of activities during October, including a Ribbons Night at its last home football game. At the game, Roll Out The Ribbons representatives and student outreach organizations including Student Council, Conquer Cancer Club and Interact, along with cheerleaders, the dance team and band were on hand accepting “Ribbon of Honor” submissions and donations. 

The campaign honors courageous individuals who have and are fighting the battle against cancer with messages of hope and healing in a united front in the fight against the disease. Shore honored one of their own during halftime when they presented math teacher Vanessa Miano, who is currently battling breast cancer, with a pink football.

Shore Regional High School’s Roll Out the Ribbons activities include students working together to collect Ribbon of Honor submissions during lunch hours and the creation of a dedicated Roll Out The Ribbons display case featuring campaign information, photos, and personal stories from students and teachers affected by cancer.

A highlight of the campaign is a mini version of the Garden of Hope, created by art teacher, Grace-Anne Bertolami, which is displayed in the school’s main lobby. Students will have the opportunity to submit their Ribbons of Honor so they can be tied on the sculpture. At the end of October, ribbons will be added to the official Garden of Hope in the Monmouth Mall.

More than 3,000 ribbons were recently transferred from the Promenade of Hope to the Garden of Hope and ribbons will continue to be added to the sculpture through mid-December. 

Roll Out The Ribbons’ Ribbon of Honor represents all types of cancer, as symbolized by its color: lavender, the official color of awareness of all cancers. The colored stripes represent the 12 most common types of cancer: thyroid, prostate, pancreatic, bladder, breast, colorectal, endometrial, kidney, leukemia, lung, melanoma and lymphoma.

The public is invited to fill-out their ribbons in person at Shore Regional High School, the Garden of Hope at Monmouth Mall or at several other area locations.  Ribbons and donations can also continue to be submitted online at rollouttheribbons.com. Ribbon messages can also be texted: ROR <space> then the message (up to 60 characters) to 84444 from a mobile device.