A purple box.

After the first few months following my diagnosis in 1991 my life rolled on just like everyone else's...and that included still having to shop for the groceries. Wandering the supermarket aisles, I spotted a bright purple cereal box called Nutrific by Kellogg's. I like purple.  The colour seduced me and I tossed the Nutrific in my cart without caring much about the contents (Am I a marketer's dream or what?). I have a hunger for the printed word and I was intrigued with what I read on that purple box at breakfast the next morning.  

There were two logos, one for the Canadian Cancer Society(CCS) and an odd one that looked like two conjoined women's heads for some group called the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation(CBCF). Kellogg's was donating 25 cents from each box sold to both charities. 

I had never heard of 'cause marketing' but this seemed like a (Nu)terrific way to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society. 

But who was this other group? I had the perfect source of information.

Not too many people can claim to walk on water, but I think my radiation oncologist could do it if he really tried. Helping me to make treatment decisions, that man listened to me until his ears burned. He explained the statistical advantages and downsides of the treatment options to a scared woman who had the mathematical mind of a monkey. He answered questions again and again. He drew diagrams and explained charts.  I know that later, he even had a mammogram himself just to experience what it was like! 

His office was a mess.  When I asked him about the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation he started to rummage about in a pile of papers on a loaded bookshelf and emerged with a small, glass award from the CBCF in Ontario. He was one of their medical advisers! They were partnering with the CCS raising money through Nutrific.  They had to be a good group, and it was the only organization totally focused on breast cancer that I knew about.  With that nugget of information, it was back to the supermarket to buy an entire case of Nutrific.