Today, more than 500 people will sample chocolates in support of Breast Cancer research. The fourth annual Chocolate Festival, hosted by the Women’s Center, will take place in the Tally Ballroom today from 1 to 4 p.m.
“I try to get as many samples as I can,” Laci Weeden, assistant director of the Women’s Center and coordinator of the event said. “We have 3,000 samples, which is enough for 510 people.”
Vendors who have donated samples for this year’s event range from local bakeries and restaurants to the food science program. The complete list of vendors who donated samples is available on the Women’s Center Web site.
Last year the Women’s Center raised nearly $4,000, according to Weeden. It was able to donate 25 percent of it to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the rest was used for programming.
“The event started four years ago when former Student Body President Jenny Chang was diagnosed with breast cancer,” Weeden said. “Chang was diagnosed at the age of 24, and had to have both breasts removed. She died from cancer last April at the age of 28.”
When diagnosed, Chang spoke on campus to educate women about early detection. Weeden said the Women’s Center wanted to come up with a way to help Chang educate women about breast cancer.
“Free food always attracts people,” Weeden said. “So Dr. Frances Graham [former Women’s Center director] had the idea of chocolate.”
The idea was to attract women with chocolate, but also educate them about breast cancer at the same time, she said.
“The first year about 300 people came,” Weeden said.
This year there will be to-go boxes so that people can take home the chocolate they can’t eat during the festival. There will also be silent auctions that include items ranging from signed basketballs to pink items donated by the N.C. State Bookstore.
The Women’s Center will be selling pink purses and pins, and the vendors will be selling chocolate. Although the tickets are sold-out, Weeden said she encourages people to still come and learn about breast cancer or buy chocolate.
