As pink crops up all over the nation for National Breast Cancer Awareness month, some CSU organizations will be doing their part to contribute to research to end the disease.

CSU sorority Zeta Tau Alpha’s philanthropy focus is breast cancer and they are currently in the process of organizing their annual Think Pink Week.

“We are women helping women and that is a very powerful thing,” said Kirsten Silveira, Zeta Tau Alpha president. “Whether it be the look on a survivor’s face when she crosses the finish line at Race For The Cure or just knowing that your time and energy is going toward finding a cure for a disease that touches everyone in one way or another, we know that we’re making an impact.”

The chapter is kicking off their annual Think Pink week on Oct. 21 with their first Pink Ribbon Run/Walk 5K.

“We’re so excited to invite the entire Northern Colorado community to join ZTA in making strides against breast cancer,” said Anna Hostetter, Think Pink chairman for Zeta Tau Alpha.

All of Zeta Tau Alpha’s proceeds are donated to the Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation, which works to fund research and education surrounding breast cancer and health, according to Silveira.

“In the past, we’ve raised around $2,000 during the fall semester for breast cancer awareness and education,” said Lauren Albin, director of philanthropy for Zeta Tau Alpha. “With the new events like the Pink Ribbon Run we’re excited to set a fundraising goal of $4,000 for the week.”

According to breastcancer.org, one in eight women will develop invasive breast cancer in her life. That’s just less than 12 percent of women in the nation. For men, the risk isn’t as high, but still one in 1,000 are affected by the disease. But people aren’t all dying from breast cancer –– in 2011, there was 2.6 million survivors in the U.S.

According to makingstrides.org, since 1993, the entire country has raised $460 million dollars for breast cancer research.

The CSU baseball and volleyball teams will also participate in raising awareness.

The baseball team plans to hold a silent auction at their upcoming Oct. 12 game. Their game will be from 3:30 p.m., according to their Facebook events page.

The CSU volleyball team is also showing support by wearing pink uniforms during their game against Boise State Oct. 18. The event on the CSU calendar states that they encourage students to wear pink as well.

“I think each [CSU] organization has their own efforts that benefit the battle against breast cancer, which is an amazing thing,” Albin said. “The more we work to spread the word about breast cancer awareness and education and the more pink ribbons we hand out on campus and in the community, the more breast cancer will become a disease the entire campus unites to fight.”

Collegian writer Corrie Sahling can be reached at news@collegian.com.