Natchez will be a city awash in pink today and for good reason.

Today is Paint Natchez Pink Day, an effort to raise awareness of the dangers of breast cancer, importance of early detection and need to continue to raise money for cancer research.

This is the second year of the event, which has been spearheaded by Merit Health Natchez.

Pink T-shirts, pink balloons and more colorful paraphernalia will abound at the local event, for sure.

But to simply discount the effort as a promotional stunt would be a disservice.

While the T-shirts and balloons make the event more fun, the topic is serious business.

Breast cancer, statistics show, impacts approximately 1 in 8 women in America. That’s a staggering statistic.

If all the pomp and circumstance of today’s event encourages even a single woman to get a routine screening, the effort would be worthwhile.

While the majority of breast cancer patients are women, we should also not forget that men contract breast cancer as well.

Cancer sees no color, no economic barriers and no distinctions of any kind. That’s why it’s so important to support awareness efforts such as Paint Natchez Pink and fundraising efforts such as the Miss-Lou Relay for Life in the summer.

Let’s use today’s effort to remember the importance of regular health screenings and encourage those within our sphere of influence not to put off such testing, but make them a routine part of their lives.