Today is National Coloring Book Day is a day to reconnect with your love of coloring and the carefree days of being a child. One woman has made National Coloring Book Day more than just coloring in a book but promoting a cause that is near and dear to her heart.
Julia Cooksey Evans is a two-time cancer survivor! She has invited friends, family and the public to share in her journey on social media and created a non-profit called Coloring Over Cancer to coincide with National Coloring Book Day.
Julia has survived both brain and breast cancer. The American Cancer Society estimated that 1.7 million new cases of cancer diagnosed in 2019 and nearly 607,000 deaths.
Sisters Network Inc. proclaims that breast cancer is of huge concern to African-American women who represent 33,840 new cases and 6.540 deaths in 2019. In fact, African-American have a 42% mortality rate vs. 3% in White women.
2UrbanGirls spoke with Julia about why she started her non-profit and how she hopes it will help others as they too fight cancer with a positive outlook.
What was the inspiration for starting your nonprofit?
Being a survivor, having lost my mother, aunt, and mother-in-law to cancer, I know firsthand how important it is to help Encourage, Educate, and Empower people fighting cancer. Coloring, a form of art therapy was very therapeutic for me while battling cancer. It helped to relieve the stress and anxiety I was feeling while going through treatment or recovering from surgeries. I also have a line of Encouragement Cards coming out this fall. Sometimes you never know quite what to say to a cancer patient but you want to day something… Coloring Over Cancer will help you do just that very soon!
Conquering cancer means sharing positive affirmations, relaying information, providing resources, and promoting social-emotional support. Coloring Over Cancer adds the healing properties of art and expression through coloring! My hope is that Coloring Over Cancer will inspire cancer patients, their loved ones, or friends to share their color with the world! This is my way of paying it forward and I ask others to do the same by sharing there color to and tagging us on social media so we can share it!
What is the mission of Coloring Over Cancer?
Coloring Over Cancer will share the wonder of color with cancer patients of all ages their families and friends during a time in life that often feels unbearable. Coloring promotes the creation of beauty, strength, and hope. We want cancer patients and their loved ones to know that they are not alone, we want to be part of your winning team!
What do you hope to accomplish through your organization?
Coloring Over Cancer wants to do its part, by working together with other organizations to ultimately find a cure. We will work hand-in-hand with all organizations and individuals seeking its eradication.
Coloring Over Cancer will bring to bear healing and inspiration through the creation and vibrancy of sharing color in various ways and with your support, we will distribute one million coloring books to one million people impacted by cancer!
SO much more to come! Be sure to visit our website at www.coloringovercancer.com join our mailing list to get updates on what COLOR we are sharing next, or send us a message for inquiries!
Coloring over Cancer has partnered with Cancer Support Community Pasadena an organization that Julia has a personal connection to. She utilized their services while going through cancer treatment herself. Between now and August 4th for every book purchased a book will be donated to CSCP for distribution to cancer patients who would like one. Donate and/or purchase a coloring book today by clicking here.
2UrbanGirls has been cited in Daily Breeze, Daily News, Inglewood Today, Intersections South LA, KCRW, KPCC, Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, LA Watts Times, Mercury News, New York Times, Orange County Register, Sports Illustrated, The Atlantic, and Washington Post. 2UrbanGirls also has a recurring column, South of the 10, on CityWatchLA, and is a recurring contributor to the Los Angeles Wave newspaper.
