Community Corner

Chatham Turned Teal

Volunteers tied teal ribbons around trees to raise awareness about ovarian cancer in honor of former Chatham resident.

Gail MacNeil wanted to make sure others knew what she found out too late.

Judging by the massive amount of teal that has spread over Chatham, Madison, Morristown and more than 200 towns nationwide, her wish is becoming a reality.

On almost every tree downtown and in towns in 26 states, teal ribbons aimed at raising awareness for ovarian cancer have been tied with care for all who pass by to see.

Find out what's happening in Chathamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Turn the Towns Teal was the inspiration of my sister-in-law, Gail, who lived in Chatham Township," said Jane MacNeil, who leads the campaign that originated through Gail MacNeil's Madison-based foundation, Kaleidoscope of Hope. "She was diagnosed in 1997. She had no idea of the symptoms; she went to the doctor three times with subtle symptoms and the doctor blew her off and said it was nothing. On Dec. 22 she was diagnosed with stage III ovarian cancer."

Gail MacNeil died in June of 2008 after her more than 10-year battle. But her war against what is a difficult to diagnose disease continues through her sister-in-law and the campaign.

Find out what's happening in Chathamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The thing about ovarian cancer is that there is no early detection test," Jane MacNeil said.

And that's where Turn the Towns Teal comes in. The campaign is in existence for the sole purpose of bringing the disease into the public's consciousness. In conjunction with the ribbons, volunteers in each of the towns hand out symptom cards to raise awareness. They give them out at places such as grocery stores, nail salons, and YMCAs.

Gail MacNeil and two other women who were treated for ovarian cancer at Morristown Memorial Hospital created Kaleidoscope of Hope in 2000 to raise funds to help in the fight. But funds weren't all that she saw as being necessary. Seven years later, she started Turn the Towns Teal to aid others in early detection of "The Silent Disease."

"What we do is we have representatives in all of these towns and we send a letter to the mayor of each town asking for permission to put up the ribbons," Jane MacNeil said. "We also give them a proclamation to sign stating that it is a part of National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month (September)."

The symptoms of ovarian cancer are very subtle, which is what makes it so difficult to detect. According to The American Cancer Society's Web site, the symptoms are bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, trouble eating or feeling full quickly, and urinary urgency or frequency. These symptoms tend to be persistent when caused by ovarian cancer and if a woman has them almost daily for more than a few weeks, she should see a doctor, preferably a gynecologist.

That is why Atlantic Health, through Overlook and Morristown Memorial Hospitals' Carol G. Simon Cancer Center and Morristown's Women's Cancer Center, has given its support from the start. The centers act as a hub for the ribbons. They give funding to create them, receive them, and help distribute them. This year, the center also funded the creation of the symptom cards.

It's a partnership as old as the campaign itself.

"When they came to us, and it was Gail and Jane MacNeil, they said 'we really want to do this,'" said Lydia Nadeau, director of Oncology Services for Atlantic Health. "'We want teal ribbons in September. Women should know as much about ovarian cancer as they do about breast cancer.' Maybe it should be more so because the symptoms are so hard to recognize."

Ovarian cancer ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women according to the American Cancer Society, and it estimates about 13,850 women will die by the end of this year from the disease. The group also states that the risk of a woman getting invasive ovarian cancer in her lifetime is 1-in-71 and her chance of dying from it is 1-in-95.

"We all share the same vision," Nadeau said. "We want awareness of ovarian cancer as commonplace as that of breast cancer. Women are the best judge of their bodies. We know our bodies. Don't ignore changes. Get them checked out. We want it as common place as to get your mammogram."

Jane MacNeil can see the campaign is having that effect already, saying there have been many cases where women who have picked up cards were able to catch the disease in an early stage after going to the doctor.

"There's been such an outpouring from survivors who just feel their ovarian cancer is finally being recognized," she said. "I heard from one woman in Munster, Ind., who said, 'I now realize why I got this disease. It's so I can be an advocate and help others.' "

The growth of the campaign is also something that has proven its effectiveness, and is measurable. In the campaign's first year in 2007, 40 towns in New Jersey participated. Now, more than 200 across the nation are involved, with requests to join coming in all of the time. Turn the Towns Teal has also reached non-profit status, something MacNeil had hoped to, and did, accomplish by the end of last year.

"We got our non-profit status on Dec. 23, so we made it," MacNeil said.

Heather Gerding was a neighbor of Gail's whose mother also died of ovarian cancer. She started volunteering with Kaleidoscope of Hope and when Jane started Turn the Towns Teal, Gerding joined the advisory board, a position she calls "rewarding."

Gerding said, "Jane's enthusiasm is just unbelievable. She's tireless."

Gerding hopes that one day teal ribbons will have the same recognition as pink ribbons. "We want to have teal be all over the country, and have people know what it is," she said. "It's really a young organization and we're just trying to grow."

The advisory board of Turn the Towns Teal hopes to be nationwide within five years. Already it has grown to from New Jersey to Hawaii, growth which has come from the hard work of the campaign's volunteers.

"We just went down to an OCNA (Ovarian Cancer National Alliance) convention in Washington, D.C., and met people from all over the country there," MacNeil said. "We followed up with about 10 people from there. We were on Internet sites and people just started contacting us. The support is overwhelming; I can't stress that enough."

Turn the Towns Teal also has new partners this year, as the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition is a full partner on the ribbons.

The campaign has also added Frederick Wildman & Sons with their wine partners, Folonari & Trapiche, who will donate 50 cents from each bottle sold during the month of September to the cause. Each bottle will contain neckers in support of Turn The Towns Teal, with each displaying the symptoms and risk factors of ovarian cancer.

The ribbons themselves have gone through a change, as this year the biodegradable pieces were all made in the United States.

The growth of the campaign will continue to bring about the message Gail MacNeil began advocating.

"Gail was really a very proactive person and she knew a lot of people all around," Jane MacNeil said. "So she just contacted a lot of people she knew and told them what her her idea was and literally people wanted to jump on the band wagon."

One her sister-in-law has spearheaded ever since.

Additional reporting by Chatham Patch Editor Laura Silvius.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Chatham