We’ve all seen the pink ribbons for Breast Cancer awareness, right? This is a great idea to raise awareness for a disease that has affected many people’s lives. But did you know there are other colors for other types of awareness? I bet you only know a few. Puzzle Pieces for Autism, Green for Organ Donation and Yellow for Support Our Troops are the relatively popular ones. But did you know that PURPLE is the color for domestic violence awareness and religious tolerance? It’s also the color for lupus, the homeless and children left unattended in cars. ORANGE is the color for Leukemia awareness as well as hunger, racial tolerance, and Support of the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and North Samaria (Israel). Orange is also the awareness color of, I kid you not, feral cats. That’s right…feral cats. I love the fact that we’re raising awareness for diseases and certain conditions but feral cats? C’mon...is this really an issue everyone needs to be aware of? Is this even a problem anymore? And by awareness are we protecting them or wanting to be rid of them? So many questions. Anyways, let’s continue. BLUE is for child abuse prevention, hurricane support, Officers lost in the line of duty and free speech. My dad is a great man. He only wears grey t-shirts. I wasn’t sure why until today when I found out that GREY is the awareness color for brain cancer, asthma, diabetes and allergies. All my life he’s been trying to make a statement and I finally got his message. My hat’s off to you dad in your war against allergies and asthma. I salute you.There are no less than 50 colors and color combinations that raise awareness of things like Prostate Cancer (light blue) and Homeopathy practices (emerald green) to chronic pelvic pain (light green) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (teal). Members of my family have suffered illnesses for which people are trying to raise awareness. I am a proud organ donor and encourage others to do the same. I guess the whole point is sometimes we can go too far. I can only imagine the kind of person walking around with an orange ribbon on supporting feral cat awareness. So pick a worthy cause and stand behind it. Slap on a purple ribbon for Patrick Swayze and let the world know just how aware you really are.
