The Soul Ryeders charity organization will adorn the city of Rye, and the village of Rye Brook and the Rye Neck area, with symbolic pink ribbons throughout the month of October to show support for community members fighting breast cancer.
The Rye-based cancer support organization will begin decorating the community with pink ribbons the morning of Oct. 1 to kick off its third annual breast cancer awareness campaign, “TieTheTownPink,” following approval by the Rye City Council on Sept. 14 and the Rye Town Park Commission on Sept. 20.
Last year, volunteers tied more than 750 pink ribbons throughout the community, with help from city merchants that displayed ribbons in their stores. Soul Ryeder volunteers also delivered and tied more than 360 ribbons in private homes in and near Rye.
“We are hoping to increase those numbers this year, because this is a fundraising campaign and it’s a way for Soul Ryeders to increase funding for current programs and to expand on new ones,” said Lisa Dominici Faries, co-founder and co-chairwoman of the initiative. “Volunteer efforts like TieTheTownPink allows Soul Ryeders to expand cancer support services in the community.”
According to Faries, what makes the initiative so successful are the amount of volunteers that deliver the ribbons; more than 100 of them. “In a community like ours, people are going to see the ribbons and are going to want to participate,” she said.
The breast cancer awareness group started as a small team of women that participated in the annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, according to Rye City Councilwoman Julie Killian, a Republican. Sandy Samberg, a co-founder and member of the organization’s board of directors, started the group after experiencing her first Avon walk in 2006, in which she walked in memory of a friend, Clayton Byrne, who had recently succumbed to breast cancer, and in honor of another, Dawn Ewing, who had just been diagnosed.
“Soul Ryeders is just an amazing organization and I think that what they’ve managed to accomplish since they’ve been in Rye is unbelievable, not only from the awareness that they bring to [the] community, but the spirit they bring as well,” said Councilwoman Danielle Tagger-Epstein, a Democrat. “Their work really speaks to this community, as everyone has been touched or will be touched by breast cancer in some way.”
TieTheTownPink, which was founded by Faries and Susan Janart four years ago, is sponsored by more than 50 local organizations including Wine at Five, Hudson Paul Salon, Citibank, RowAmerica Rye, Women’s Association of Rye Presbyterian and the city of Rye Fire Department.
Soul Ryeders has raised as much as $2 million for cancer support and services since the group started in 2007.
Ribbons can be purchased for $25 at soulriders.org/pink or directly by emailing tiethetownpink@gmail.com, and can be tied around trees, mailboxes, benches and front doors. Ribbons can also be purchased directly at the Oct 7 Rye High School Garnets football game, as the volunteer efforts are supported by the school’s breast cancer awareness club, and at all Rye elementary schools from Sept. 26 to Sept 30. All proceeds will benefit Soul Ryeders’ local cancer related programs and services.
