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Real Men Wear Pink
SARATOGA COUNTY — David DeMarco, president and CEO of Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company, has made a commitment to represent Saratoga County throughout the month of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, by wearing pink every day, all 31 days, of the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer’s Real Men Wear Pink campaign.
DeMarco, one of a dozen prominent men throughout the Capital Region, will take a stand against breast cancer by encouraging the community to take action, raising funds and awareness about this life-threatening disease. Each Real Men Wear Pink candidate is charged with a fundraising challenge and will compete to be the top fundraiser among the other candidates by the end of the campaign.
"It’s a first time event in the Capital Region, but it’s been done in other parts of the country with some success,” said DeMarco. “I’ve been involved with the American Cancer Society for most of my career, on the board of directors in Glens Falls and shared the first Relay for Life up in Queensbury when I lived there, so when they asked me to participate, it was kind of a no-brainer, an easy decision to get involved. I thought it would be fun for a great cause.”
Starting October 1, the 12 participants must wear pink every day, a task that will not be too difficult for DeMarco. “Luckily, I have a number of pink ties and some pink shirts,” he said. “Every couple of weeks or so I’d wear pink anyway. I hope to take a picture every day, make it fun. Since we’re doing it to raise awareness, there’s a little bit of a competition, though. We’ve been asked to raise $2,500 primarily through social media and personal asks.”
DeMarco hopes to engage Saratoga’s business community, as well, to support this initiative. “Our company is certainly supporting me. Once a month, we have a dress-down Friday where people pay $5 and it typically goes to United Way, but in October our parent company is encouraging people to do it for my campaign against breast cancer,” said DeMarco. “Hopefully all of our employees will be in pink on Friday, October 21.”
The 2016 Real Men Wear Pink participants are:
Carm Basile – CEO, CDTA
Bob Blackman - Vice President Business Development, Realty USA
Dr. Rufus Collea – Oncologist, New York Oncology Hematology
David S. DeMarco - President & CEO, Saratoga National Bank & Trust Co
Corey Ellis – President, Corey L. Ellis Consulting & Management, CECM
Jason Gough – Meteorologist, WNYT-TV
Andrew Guelcher – Director of Variable Operations, Mohawk Honda
Dr. Richard MacDowell, Breast Surgeon, Albany Medical Center
Dr. Lee A. McElroy, Jr - Director of Athletics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Chad O’Hara – Program Director, B95.5
Dr. Duncan Savage - Radiation Oncologist, St. Peter’s Cancer Care Center
Bill Sherman - Vice President Government Relations, American Cancer Society.
According to the American Cancer Society “Cancer Facts & Figures 2016,” an estimated 246,660 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and an estimated 40,450 will die from the disease this year. In New York, over 16,000 women will be diagnosed this year and 2,410 will die from the disease. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, and it is the most common cancer diagnosed in women other than skin cancer.
“I’m not sure there’s anyone around these days whose lives haven’t been touched by breast cancer,” said DeMarco, “My wife’s grandmother died from it, and we have a couple extremely close friends, one who is a 13-year survivor and one just diagnosed recently. We aren’t asking for large contributions – just whatever you can give. I’m the only Real Man Wearing Pink from Saratoga County. I’m hopeful people here will support me, that we’ll have a good showing that Saratoga cares about supporting breast cancer research, that people who don’t even know me but care about this will support me.”
For more information about breast cancer or the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, visit MakingStridesWalk.org/Albany or call 800-227-2345. To support the Real Men and read their stories, visit MakingStridesWalk.org/RealMenAlbanyNY. To support David DeMarco’s Real Men Wear Pink Campaign, click here.
