The youth of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Orchard Park and St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Grand Island were soggy but triumphant after placing 3,825 flags in lawn of Western New York’s Diocesan Ministry Center. The skies opened up about halfway through the time it took to complete the job. Photo: Diocese of Western New York

[Episcopal Diocese of Western New York] On Oct. 17, the Right Rev. R. William Franklin, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, presented a check for $6,375 to Roswell Park Cancer Institute to be used for breast cancer research. The check is the result of the Pink Flag Campaign held for the diocese’s Health Awareness Week, October 12-18.

The Rev. Cathy Dempesy-Sims, who serves the Church of the Good Shepherd and the Church of the Ascension in Buffalo, accompanied the bishop for the check presentation. Dempesy-Sims is a breast cancer survivor who was successfully treated at Roswell Park in 2010.

“It’s fitting that this donation from our first diocesan-wide Health Awareness Week is going to support breast cancer research at Roswell Park,” said Bishop Franklin. “This world-class cancer center was founded by Dr. Roswell Park, whose father was an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Chicago. After Moving to Buffalo, Dr. Roswell Park was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Buffalo where the Rev. Cathy Dempesy-Sims is now the priest.”

The Pink Flag campaign was coordinated by the diocese. For every $5.00 a member of the diocese donated to the campaign, that member’s church received three bright pink lawn flags for the church’s front lawn. For every flag placed on every church lawn across the diocese, one was also placed on the lawn of the Diocesan Ministry Center at 1064 Brighton Road in Tonawanda.

The campaign resulted in a total of nearly 8,000 pink flags on Episcopal properties across Western New York, 3,825 of them on the Diocesan Ministry Center’s front lawn thanks to the youth of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Orchard Park and St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Grand Island.

Health Awareness Week is anchored by the Feast of St. Luke, on October 18th. St. Luke is the patron saint of physicians and surgeons.

Next year, the diocese will focus its attention and support on a different health issue.