College sophomore Lisa Schlesinger sat down in Houston Hall yesterday to an unusual occurrence. Rather than studying or eating lunch, Schlesinger was pampered with a fresh coat of light-pink nail polish.
Get a manicure and support the fight against breast cancer - that was the message behind yesterday's "Manicure for the Cure" event, held on the first floor of Houston Hall.
The event, sponsored by Hillel of Greater Philadelphia, Trustees Council of Penn Women and OPI Nail Polish, drew 156 participants - 151 women and five men - to Houston Hall, which was turned into a temporary nail salon for the day.
Originally conducted at Princeton University, Manicure for the Cure was organized by the Orthodox Community at Penn's community-service committee in memory of a member's mother.
"It started within the OCP as a way to help those affected and became a campus-wide event," Limor Friedman, who works with the Jewish Learning Initiative at Penn, said.
College senior Shalhevet Roth added that the committee members, who were all clad in pink, had three goals for their event: to do something fun, educate the community and raise money for breast-cancer research.
Each manicure cost $15 and came with a gift of OPI-donated nail polish and moisturizer, a Breast Cancer Awareness bracelet and an informational pamphlet. The gifts were also on sale to the Penn community.
All of the event's proceeds were donated to both breastcancer.org and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization, which supports breast-cancer research.
During each 20-minute manicure session, Marisa Weiss, president and founder of breastcancer.org, and A.J. Brown, an oncologist at Bryn Mawr Hospital, spoke about breast health.
"Almost every single person has someone close to them who has been diagnosed," Weiss, a Penn alumna, said. "We want to make sure all girls and women are breast healthy."
The 13 manicurists were there to raise awareness about the cause as well. "My cousin had breast cancer two years ago, so I figured I'd come out for her" Tashima Rider of Made Up Salon said.
Others were at the event to lend support. "I got an invitation from my friends who were running it, and I wanted to support them," Schlesinger said.
"Hopefully," Roth said, "this will become an annual thing until we find a cure."
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