Attentive Moniteau County citizens may already have noticed some new lawn art popping up outside homes around the area this month.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the familiar pink ribbon signifying support for those affected by breast cancer has been painted on more than 100 lawns so far thanks to the charitable efforts of a State Technical College of Missouri instructor.
Nick Rackers, a Commercial Turf & Grounds Management instructor at State Tech, first began painting ribbons in 2020, after being asked by someone in his Rotary Club to join the American Cancer Society's "Real Men Wear Pink" campaign.
"There's around 30 people in central Missouri that are in this campaign as ambassadors for 'Real Men Wear Pink,' and we were tasked with three things - raise funds, raise awareness and wear pink every day," Rackers said. "So here we are in the middle of a pandemic and I was like, 'Well, how do we host an event, and what do I do?'"
Raising money was going to be a challenge given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Rackers said, so he decided to brainstorm an idea that would allow for easier social distancing. With his instructing background in mind, the idea to paint pink ribbons on a lawn for anyone who donated $50 or more to the fundraising campaign was born. Rackers contacted a former student who works for the Kansas City Chiefs, borrowed a stencil and got to work.
The starting individual fundraising goal for "Real Men Wear Pink" is $2,500, Rackers said. He doubled that in his first year painting ribbons, having hit a total of 30-50 ribbons painted by the end of October 2020.
"Then it kind of blew up to the point that I was selling out and buying all the paint, and I was doing this out of pocket and it kind of got bigger than I thought it would," Rackers said. "I had several family members who were like, 'We see what you're doing, you're doing good work.' My paint bill was higher than my mortgage bill at one point, so they said 'Here, here's some paint money.' And then a very good family friend stepped in and this big check arrived, and I just about dropped to the floor because it wiped my bill clean."
Rackers' first year of fundraising was so successful he now has paint sponsors - including Central Bank and Advanced Turf Solutions - to help him keep up with demand. He's also increased his fundraising goal for 2021 to $10,000, a total which he looks likely to surpass. He completed ribbon number 105 Monday and had raised $8,354 for the campaign as of press time Tuesday, leaving him close to achieving his goal with about a week and a half left until the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
As for the campaign's other two goals, raising awareness has obviously been a successful venture - and Rackers has picked up a pair of pink shoes he can wear every day this month.
Rackers said he stays fairly local when painting ribbons, with Columbia the farthest he's gone to complete jobs. Plotting a good route to take care of jobs is still an involved process, though; a week and a half or so into October this year, Rackers said he was spending much of his free time driving around and painting ribbons, which got to be draining early on.
"That first week, I was running every night after work and every afternoon that I had free, I was painting," Rackers said. "I was getting tired and I was like, 'Man, this is going to kill me,' and I was only a week and a half in. Then I thought about it and I (realized) all I really have to do is drive around and paint ribbons - I don't have to go through a cancer diagnosis, and I haven't. Knock on wood, no one in my immediate family has had to do that, either. I know how hard that is so I shouldn't really complain that my back aches and I have to drive all over creation doing that. That's what I signed up for."
Many fundraising contributors donate in honor of others who have survived a diagnosis or are currently battling breast cancer, Rackers said, which makes for an often humbling experience.
"At the end of my work day, I sit there and I'll compile the list and make my most efficient route home painting the ribbons, and it's kind of like 'Oh, I've got to get this done and this done,'" Rackers said. "But then you stop and someone tells you a story and it reminds you why you're doing it. It's a thing I've got to do, but it's the reason why I do it."