UPDATED: Sept. 4, 2017 at 10:20 p.m.

Gary Weeks works tirelessly to paint his community teal. Wearing a teal shirt and holding a handful of teal ribbons, Weeks speaks to women to spread awareness of ovarian cancer.

His ribbons only mark the beginning of the fight. September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and Syracuse men are spreading awareness about the disease.

In 2008, Weeks’ daughter, Heather, finished dancing with the “Sesame Street Live” tour and began working at the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance. But shortly after, at 23-years-old, Heather was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer.

Although Heather didn’t have ovarian cancer, fighting the disease was her passion. She understood the severity of the cancer and its hidden depths, but both the message and awareness were lacking.

“At the time she said, ‘I would really like to have a booth at the New York State Fair. Would that be possible?’” Weeks said. “We told her, ‘Yes, honey. You get better, and we’ll get a booth at the New York State Fair, and you can go out and help women understand this disease and change the world like it’s your plan.’”

Heather died in November 2008 after turning 24.

“When you start having a family, it’s a wonderful thing. Everything seems like the greatest thing in the world. It’s so positive,” Weeks said. “We understand that we have to say goodbye to our parents, but losing a child is devastating. Part of the grieving process is being able to do something positive — to try and make that vision of hell something positive.”

Nearly a decade later, Heather’s passion to spread awareness still lives on through her family.

In May 2009, Gary and his wife, Frieda, began Hope for Heather to raise money for ovarian cancer research. The booth at the state fair is now filled with 140 volunteers all wearing teal and handing out ribbons.

“Heather hit on something that is missing within this community:  the knowledge about this disease,” Weeks said. “We decided we are going to do something about that. We are going to change the community. We’re going to make people aware.”

Every September, 30 Men of Teal represent the 30 days of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Men from the Syracuse community are chosen to spread awareness for the disease, which takes the lives of about 14,000 women each year.

The owners of the Syracuse Chiefs and the Syracuse Crunch were both previously Men of Teal. Both teams hosted ovarian cancer nights, during which they passed around teal ribbons and ovarian cancer symptom cards to women around the stadium to spread awareness.

“As a Man of Teal, you’re raising awareness for ovarian cancer and the Hope for Heather organization,” said Paul Napoli, a 2016 Man of Teal and owner of Five Star Martial Arts in North Syracuse.

Napoli first got involved with Hope for Heather after some of his students told him about the annual Teal Ribbon Run. He organized a team from his martial arts studio and raised about $6,000.

After the first year of participating, Napoli wanted to get more involved. Each year, he creates a Facebook video and encourages people to share it to raise money, but more importantly, to raise awareness.

“One of my main objectives in our school, and one of my biggest passions and goals, is to make a difference,” Napoli said. “That is 100 percent in line with Hope for Heather, which is 100 percent in line with these other companies and businesses that are a part of it. Their goal is to be the difference makers, to be somebody who is raising awareness and spreading the word, and a part of that big community. It’s like nothing else.”

Since 2008, Hope for Heather has raised more than $800,000 and donated $260,000 of that funding to research. The rest of the money has been used to host events such as the Teal Ribbon Run and the organization’s brunch fashion show called “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

The funding also goes toward local support and education and to support Hope for Heather’s “angel fund,” which covers costs that insurance of survivors in treatment may not cover, such as parking, food, pet care or a hairdresser.

The organization functions completely off volunteer work, and the Men of Teal have a major role in helping the women in their lives recognize the importance of awareness.

“The great thing that Paul gets, or any businessman that owns a business gets, is that you add a lot of value in the mind of your customers when you can connect with something that changes and adds value to the community,” Weeks said.

Napoli’s martial arts studio has the largest teams of kids in the Teal Ribbon Run’s second Teal Kids Dash. Having kids participate in the run draws families to the event, which makes everyone in the family aware of the cancer and everything Hope for Heather fights for.

The Teal Ribbon Run has about 1,000 participants each year, from runners to walkers. This year’s race is on Saturday, Sept. 23 at Lewis Park in Minoa.

“We started out and thought, ‘If we could raise a couple thousand dollars, so that we could have enough information and literature to spread awareness, we’d be happy,’” Weeks said. “We would’ve been happy carrying along Heather’s mission and idea, but the thing seems to grow on its own.”

This story has been updated for appropriate style.

Published on September 4, 2017 at 10:03 pm

Contact Connor: cbfogel@syr.edu