Yesterday I was at the grocery store, and I noticed it was all decked out in pink. I noticed it first in the poultry section - all the packages of chicken had pink stickers on them. Then I went to the bread aisle to get a few nice rolls, and all the sesame rolls had pink sesame seeds on them! Was it an attempt by the grocery store to match my lunch to the color of my lunchbag? Of course not!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Since the program began in 1985, mammography rates have more than doubled for women age 50 and older and breast cancer deaths have declined.

This is exciting progress, but there are still women who do not take advantage of early detection at all and others who do not get screening mammograms and clinical breast exams at regular intervals.

• Women age 65 and older are less likely to get mammograms than younger women, even though breast cancer risk increases with age.

• Hispanic women have fewer mammograms than Caucasian women and African American women.

• Women below poverty level are less likely than women at higher incomes to have had a mammogram within the past two years.

• Mammography use has increased for all groups except American Indians and Alaska Natives.

What does this have to do with office supplies?

Well, approximately 44 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer will be employed at the time of their diagnosis. Chances are, you may work with women who are at risk.

Next Day Office Supplies offers a variety of Breast Cancer Awareness Month products, whether you use them to spread the word about early detection, or simply to support the cause, you can feel good about taking part in a campaign that makes a difference.

If all women age 40 and older took advantage of early detection methods – mammography plus clinical breast exam – breast cancer death rates could drop much further, up to 30 percent.

For more information about National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, please visit www.nbcam.org. For additional information, please call one of the following toll-free numbers: American Cancer Society - (800) 227-2345, National Cancer Institute (NCI) - (800) 4-CANCER, Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization - (800) 221-2141.