Dress In Blue Day Kicks off Colon Cancer Awareness Month

Exact Sciences' Quality Assurance Document Control Specialist Lorie Madsen got into the spirit of Dress in Blue Day last year.

Why should you wear blue?

That’s the question the Colon Cancer Alliance (CCA) wants communities, businesses and individuals across the country (and even the world) to answer during its 5th annual Dress in Blue Day™ program on Friday, March 1st.

The CCA’s National Dress in Blue Day takes place every year on the first Friday in March as the official kickoff to National Colorectal Cancer Month. The program promotes awareness of colon cancer, encourages people to get their colon checked and ultimately, is working to put an end to this often preventable disease.

On this special day, thousands of people throughout the United States will be showing their support by dressing in blue and talking to people about colon cancer and screening.

“Support for Dress in Blue Day has grown tremendously since we took this program to the national level in 2009,” said Andrew Spiegel, CEO of the CCA. “Each year, we are inspired to hear about more and more communities, individuals and businesses who are taking great strides to support Dress in Blue Day.

“Our goal is to have the entire country going blue so everyone knows that this a cancer they can do something about – whether it’s by wearing blue, holding an event or taking charge of their health by talking to their doctor.”

Currently, colon cancer affects 1 in 20 people. More than 143,000 Americans will be diagnosed this year and 51,690 people will lose their battle with the disease. But there is good news: colon cancer is often beatable when detected and treated in its early stages or can be prevented altogether when polyps are removed before they develop into cancer.

Dress in Blue Day works to make sure everyone knows this – encouraging local communities, businesses and the general public to support awareness of colon cancer by dressing in blue and hosting educational events.

To make this extra easy, the CCA offers free educational and promotional resources, including social media templates and photos, web banners, flyers and posters, toolkits and much more.

For more information about Dress in Blue Day and to access these free resources, visit www.dressinblueday.com. And this March, help us spread colon cancer awareness – it could save someone’s life!