County Executive encourages downtown businesses to also promote breast cancer awareness
Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Allegheny County Treasurer John Weinstein today turned the Courthouse fountain pink in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“For the fourth consecutive year, the water in the Allegheny County Courthouse fountain will flow pink throughout October to promote breast cancer awareness,” said Onorato. “Breast cancer is treatable and survivable if it is caught early, and we hope the fountain will remind women and their loved ones of that fact.”

Once again this year, the County Executive has asked other organizations to join in the pink fountain effort to raise awareness and demonstrate our region’s commitment to continued education and research for a cure.

“This is an annual tradition that I will ensure that we continue,” said Weinstein. “Every person knows someone touched by breast cancer. If one woman gets a mammogram as a result of this pink fountain, we may have just saved a life.”

This morning, the Pennsylvania Commission for Women turned the fountain at Point State Park pink. The Sports & Exhibition Authority is turning its water steps on the North Shore and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center water feature pink. The fountain at the Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin will also flow pink during October.

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 192,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed among women this year, and an estimated 40,000 women will die from the disease in 2009. Today, there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States.