By KATHRYN JOHNSON, Copiah-Lincoln Community College

 

Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) President Akura Brown will host a Breast Cancer Care Packaging Event Friday, Oct. 21 at Copiah-Lincoln Community College’s Thames Center.

On Friday, students, faculty and community are invited to attend the care packaging event 2-4 p.m. The event will include the assembling of the care packages, refreshments for everyone who attends and guest speaker Molly May. Mississippi State University alum May will share her battle with breast cancer at age 19.

Brown has collected donations and items from local businesses, church members and other generous community members to fill the care packages. Brown’s personal experiences with family members battling breast cancer have given her a sound knowledge for the needs of breast cancer patients.

“My grandmother and five of my great aunts actually had breast cancer. So over time we’ve found small things that help such as plastic utensils, because after radiation treatments they cannot use metal forks. It makes their food taste really weird. Ginger candy helps with the nausea after chemo. And then tissues because your nose runs a lot when you lose your hair,” said Brown.

Brown said the care packaging event is a part of a project for PTK.

“Each year our [PTK] officer team — we pick something that we’re very passionate about and mine was breast cancer.”

However, for Brown, the care packaging event means much more than just a school project.

PTK advisor Mary Warren explained, “Akura was very passionate due to family members who have been affected by breast cancer … so, she wanted to plan a project where she could actually bring in the community as well as other students.”

This breast cancer event is not Brown’s first to host. Brown founded her own nonprofit organization for breast cancer patients at the age of 14. Her organization “A Night of Hope” hosted its first event in 2017.

Brown shared, “My nonprofit’s motto is ‘Making People Feel Like People Not Just Patients.’ So, we want them to feel like a person. Once you go through cancer, you are kind of getting picked and prodded on … we want them to feel like people — who happen to have cancer.”