Pink Ribbon Brunch

On Saturday 25 October 2008, Crescents of Brisbane hosted the Pink Ribbon Pamper Brunch. This was a blissfully indulgent experience for over 150 Brisbane women who are focused on supporting and raising funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). The NBCF is Australia's only national not-for-profit foundation established to promote and support research into every aspect of breast cancer including into the prevention, detection and treatment of breast cancer. The ladies were fortunate to learn from Ms Ann Marie Perkin from the Queensland Cancer Fund about how to detect breast cancer early by regular self examination. We were inspired by Mrs Lyndsey Baigent Founder of Essentially For Women, who spoke candidly about how she turned the adversities of her life into cherished gifts.
	She reminded many women how important it is to develop and sustain our emotional wealth to be effective as the nucleus of our families. As many of our husbands know "a happy wife is a happy life!" These educational and inspiring messages were accompanied by a sumptuous brunch of delectable treats, beautifully prepared by the dedicated team of ladies from Crescents of Brisbane. The afternoon was spent indulging in most women's favourite passions of shopping, pampering and cooking. There were innovative art and craft pieces including hand made jewellery, Islamic art canvasses, glassware, embroidery and cakes donated for auction. Of course all the proceeds were donated to the NBCF.
There were a series of indulgent pampering sessions of blissful massages and hand treatments, cooking demonstrations and informative talks about how not to wear your hijab (which proved a great success with the ladies). Blissful pampering whilst raising funds for a much needed cause was a wonderful way to celebrate and promote Pink Ribbon Day. Most importantly though it was an important reminder for all women to regularly screen for breast cancer. May Allah keep us all healthy and grant those of our sisters who are enduring breast cancer shifa, Ameen. Tickets sold out rapidly for this years Pink Ribbon Event so be sure to book early next year.
	Testimonials "Just a short note to say a Big Thank You to all of you for such an enjoyable and informative morning of pampering. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Obviously a lot of work went into the whole event and may I say I commend you all for your hard work and team effort.Very few people realise how much goes on behind the scenes to organize community events and judging from todays lay out I can only imagine how hard you've all worked to present what you did today. Well done and keep it up ! May Allah grant us all the strength to do whatever we can to educate and improve the lives of our fellow human beings for His sake. Aameen" "Thank you so much for organising the tickets for us on Saturday. We really had the best time and I met so many nice people during the lunch and the pampering sessions afterwards. My back was beautifully massaged and as for my hands and nails! The warmth of the community spirit was so obvious I wish you could make it infectious and spread it around a bit more. We can only hope. (Saalihah) Your stage presence was amazing, you looked so calm in front of all these people........I wish you and your family good health and lots of fun in the future. Keep up the good work."

Other comments from participants...... Enjoyable. Great, Keep it Up!. It would have been good to see a Muslim woman who has battled or is battling breast cancer and talk about her experience, makes it real. I had a lot of fun. Very well organised. Hard to find the venue but worth it. Cheaper items. Very worthwhile atmosphere and friendliness exceptional. Excellent. Much enjoyed day. Maybe salaah facilities should be organised. Excellent job, well done. I will attend next year (Insha-Allah) if I am here. Well done. Arrived late so did not hear any of the speeches. Less chicken on the menu. Event was most enjoyable. Well organised. Very enjoyable and informative. Very well organised. Beautifully presented. Next time have Zohr salaah before the demonstrations. Wonderful. Overall very interesting and enjoyable. Keep it up. I will attend again next year. I had a lot of fun. Thanks, its excellent. An enjoyable morning. Inspiring. Very well organised. A real treat! Excellent, thank you for all your efforts. Pampering sessions were a bit rushed. Cannot falter. It will be good if we could stop for salaah. A pleasurable and fun day. Very inspiring, lovely social. Good venue, good ideas. Everything was most beautiful....well done to everyone involved. Please include salaah facilities next time. Good. Well organised. Enjoyed myself. Kept me interested..thank you. Great. Too many different things..took a little long overall. Very relaxing and enjoyable..well organised. Wonderful morning out. Good enjoyable afternoon. The hand massage station was average....lady should have explained what cream we were using and best massage technique. Lovely, educational inspiring event! Well organised..good fun and fun. Change auction style. Extremely informative, raises awareness and willingness to contribute..lovely program! Very well organised. It was a bit rushed...a few more minutes at each station would have been good. Value for money...interesting, well organised.