The Kishwaukee Country Club Ladies Golf League’s committee for the Pretty in Pink Fore Wigs golf outing presented the Kishwaukee Cancer Center in DeKalb this week with a check for more than $4,300 in donations raised as part of its inaugural fundraising event.

Laura Geoghegan, the committee’s chairwoman, described the event as a success, saying that the group was blown away by the amount of money raised.

“We didn’t think we would make this kind of money,” Geoghegan said.

The inaugural fundraising event recently saw more than 45 golfers take to the green in support of the Kishwaukee Cancer Center and its Living Well Cancer Resources.

The event included an 18-hole golf scramble, lunch and raffles.

A keynote speech was given by Alysia Moret-Schmerbach, an advanced practice nurse for a high-risk breast clinic.

Angela McCrum, the director at Northwestern Medicine’s Kishwaukee Cancer Center, said spreading awareness about breast cancer is important.

“I think bringing awareness to breast health for women and for men, and understanding that it isn’t one gender that potentially has the risk of breast cancer or other cancers, and being able to partner with the Kishwaukee Cancer Center, with Northwestern Medicine, was ideal,” McCrum said.

Committee member Jane Kible said taking part in the event meant something special to her. Breast Cancer Awareness Month is October.

“It was [the] inaugural [event], so it was really a great launching pad to bring awareness,” Kible said.

According to statistics from the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 8 women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime.

Experts repeatedly maintain that regular screenings provide the best way to detect cancer early when it’s small, hasn’t spread and is easier to treat.

McCrum said one of the most common concerns that people diagnosed with breast cancer tend to have is whether they are ready for other people to know they have lost their hair because of the treatment they may be receiving for cancer.

“That’s where the power of image recovery and providing wigs to women [comes in]. It allows them then to share when they’re ready to share, if they want to share,” McCrum said.

While there is no exact date set for another golf outing, organizers said they are working hard to ensure the momentum continues again next year.

Kible said discussions have taken place about holding the event annually.

“It was so successful [that] everybody has said, ‘We want to keep it on the calendar,’” Kible said. “And we want to keep helping people.”