WATERMAN – The Waterman community saw pink in October thanks to Monsanto’s Waterman Seed Technology Center (WSTC). All month, WSTC employees sold pink hardhats and coordinating T-shirts to area farmers and harvest truck drivers in Rock Falls to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month. WSTC sold more than 500 hardhats and raised $5,130 for the Cancer Center at Kishwaukee Community Hospital.

The money raised was presented to the Cancer Center at Kishwaukee Community Hospital during a ceremony on Friday, Oct. 26.

“Our initial goal was to raise $1,000 by selling pink hardhats,” said Sherry Uhrich, WSTC site nurse. “We were hoping our employees would purchase them as a way to show our support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Then, a co-worker suggested we make T-shirts, too, and before we knew it, we had blown our goal out of the water.”

The Kishwaukee Health Foundation has established two funds in which the proceeds from WSTC hardhat and T-shirt sales will be split. Both funds benefit the Cancer Center; one fund will subsidize breast cancer support programs and the other will help to offset costs associated with cancer treatments for low-income individuals.

“As the occupational health nurse here on site, I am always trying to engage everyone in healthy activities,” Uhrich said. “This was a great way to bring awareness to a worthy health cause and to give back to the community where we live and work. I hope to continue a strong partnership with the Cancer Center in the future.”