ELKINS – Davis & Elkins College President Chris A. Wood is participating in the American Cancer Society’s inaugural West Virginia Real Men Wear Pink campaign. Wood, along with 35 other men from throughout the Mountain State, will encourage community members to take action in the fight against breast cancer throughout October.

The campaign is expected to raise more than $50,000 to support breast cancer research and patient support programs of the American Cancer Society. The participants are committed to wearing pink every day in October.

Wood chose to join the campaign in support of his mother-in-law, Linda Gill Messinger, a Huntington native who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2010.

“I am humbled and honored to be a part of the Real Men Wear Pink campaign,” Wood said. “I look forward to the questions or comments I will get from friends, colleagues or Davis & Elkins College students who ask about the pink apparel I’m wearing. I will explain my participation in the campaign, share my story, and remind them to get preventative screening for them and their families. I am excited to let each of them know that the American Cancer Society is fighting for them every day through research, awareness and a myriad other ways to help us beat breast cancer. I’m grateful to do my part in honor of Linda.”

According to the American Cancer Society Cancer Facts & Figures 2018, an estimated 266,120 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and an estimated 40,920 will die from the disease this year. In West Virginia, 1,700 women will be diagnosed this year, and 280 will die from the disease. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, and it is the most common cancer diagnosed in women other than skin cancer.

Each Real Men Wear Pink participant accepts a fundraising challenge and will compete to be the top fundraiser among his peers by the end of the campaign.

To support Wood’s fundraising efforts for the American Cancer Society, visit his personal fundraising website at http://bit.ly/2Pwxd4w. For more information, visit Realmenwearpinkacs.org. Follow Wood’s pink progression this campaign on Facebook @davisandelkins, Twitter @davisandelkins and Instagram @davisandelkins.