The Village at Cook Springs hosted a Pink-Out day on Friday, Oct. 9 in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month. The staff and residents dressed in pink and The Village hosted a pink-themed bake sale as a fundraiser.

Raising awareness to find a cure is a cause close to many residents’ and staff members’ hearts. The Assistant Director of nursing, Mindy Wills, is one of those people.

“This cause is important to the staff here because it affects everyone in some way,” Wills said. “We want the residents to know that we are here for them and recognize what a difficult battle cancer is, whether they have gone through it or have watched a loved one suffer.”

Wills understand the pain of watching a family member fight cancer. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago and was just cleared as cancer-free six months ago. As her mother was recovering from her own fight, Wills’ father passed away from prostate cancer.

“Going through that with my family was the hardest thing I could imagine,” Wills said. “But it taught me that the staff and residents here are my family, too.”

Wills has been working at Village at Cook Springs for almost 20 years. Throughout her time there, she has grown very close with the residents that live there.

“I see suffering and pain everyday,” Wills said. “At Village at Cook Springs, we try to do everything we can to lessen that for our residents and that desire overflows from just what we do here. That’s why we have events like today’s.”

During her time of loss and throughout her mother’s treatment and recovery process, Wills felt that support firsthand.

“I knew I was never alone when I was here,” Wills said. “The support I was given was awesome. It was something that I could feel everyday and it was overwhelmingly genuine.”

This was the second annual pink-out day that the center has hosted. Executive Director Trent Jackson was excited about the event and how it provides a way to bring the staff and all the residents together. The facility plans on continuing to host the event in support of those who have fought or have been affected by breast cancer.

“This is a way for us to show our support in a positive way,” Wills said. “If what we do helps one of our residents, then it was worth it.”