October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the local student community is celebrating and supporting fighters and survivors through art.
"When we were designing this and I was talking with the art teacher, we were trying to think of ways... of cheering those people fighting breast cancer on. We're fundraising, but how can our youth support them? And it's through art, and that's just as powerful as money," Marketing Director of Hamilton Place Mall, Jason Heymann said.
More than seven hundred individually designed pink ribbons are on display at the Hamilton Place Mall all created by students in Hamilton County.
Heymann came up with the idea along with a local school teacher.
"I said we have the More Than Pink Walk coming up in October, is there anything we can do together to make that happen? She said, 'yea, we would love to incorporate that into a lesson plan come September,'" Heymann said.
Their objective was to bring more art back into the mall post-COVID and students were happy to help, especially for a good cause.
"We started getting piece after piece and huge piles of ribbons all with these handwritten notes, kids started mailing them in. It was just really overwhelming," he said.
On October 1, people filled the mall to take part in the More Than Pink walk.
Heymann said it was special to see everyone observe the pieces and celebrate the community fighting and overcoming breast cancer.
"These are going to go to MaryEllen Locher Breast Cancer Center. So they are going to make their way to those hands to the people who need them most," Heymann said.
He wants the students to know their voices are heard and that their creations and imagination can inspire change.
