Former beauty queen raises cancer awareness, hurricane relief

Former beauty queen raises cancer awareness, hurricane relief|Former beauty queen raises cancer awareness, hurricane relief|Former beauty queen raises cancer awareness, hurricane relief|Former beauty queen raises cancer awareness, hurricane relief
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It’s a slay day for cancer.

A breast-cancer survivor hosted a fun and informative cancer awareness event in Bedford Stuyvesant on Oct. 29. Former Miss Grenada/USA Deniece Mitchell, organized her “Slay Cancer Sip, Shop, and Fete” event to help inform her community about the invasive disease, and also raise funds for victims of hurricanes Irma and Maria.

“It’s very important for the young black community because there’s a face for breast cancer, and that face is an older white woman but that’s not the truth,” said Mitchell.

To counter this misconception, she organized an educational and entertaining day-long event featuring testimony from other breast-cancer survivors, all-natural and vegan beauty products, healthy food offerings, prizes, and her slay cancer clothing.

She said making the event fun was one of the highlights.

“I wanted to create an atmosphere that was entertaining but still informative, so people could pass on the information to their friends,” she said.

Mitchell noted the impact of the recent hurricanes on the Caribbean and said she wanted to use the event as an opportunity to bring attention to the dire needs of the people affected.

“Recognizing that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the fact that Caribbean islands have been tremendously impacted by hurricanes, I wanted to focus on my two passions — Breast Cancer Awareness and the Caribbean aesthetic,” said Mitchell. “It is especially important to promote proactive health care especially in the young African American and Caribbean community.”

Reach reporter Alexandra Simon at (718) 260–8310 or e-mail her at asimon@cnglocal.com.