Watching my grandson play football this weekend, I cant help but be proud to watch the young boys play in their pink socks and pink gloves in support of breast cancer awareness … cant miss that October is breast cancer awareness month!

Also proud of the cowboys, cowgirls and most importantly, the rodeo committees, western events and sponsors that have made this western breast cancer campaign so successful. To date, the Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign has helped raise over $12 million dollars in funds most of which stayed local to help a host of breast cancer treatment facilities and womens breast cancer support centers.

December, 2012 will mark the eighth anniversary of the Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign, the grassroots movement that has inspired other sports communities to mount their own TETWP campaigns, spreading a message of hope and support that reaches beyond the rodeo arena to competitors, families and fans across America. Who would have thought when we launched the campaign on that December night in 2004 at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo that it would have come this far and make this kind of difference!

And the campaign keeps getting Bigger and Better! The enthusiasm and support for the Tough Enough to Wear Pink continues to grow. By the end of 2011, over 300 large and small western and extreme sports events across America and Canada had supported Tough Enough to Wear Pink and the number of events in 2012 will exceed that number.

I was privileged this year to witness some of the Tough Enough to Wear Pink 2012 arena celebrations. Pendleton Round-Up was memorable with their ribbon of survivors and Salinas turned their arena pink on their opening performance. We are very proud of the top fundraising events year after year … Missoula Stampede, Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo, Minot Ys Mens Rodeo/Badlands Circuit Finals, Cattlemens Days of Gunnison, Fremont County Fair & Wind River Round-Up, Red Bluff Round-Up, The TETWP Horse Show and the bell ringer event of Cowboys for Cancer Research in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

We are looking forwarding to Tough Enough to Wear Pink night at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo on Monday night, December 10th and announcing the TETWP campaign new fundraising total. It still brings a tear to my eye when I watch the arena fill with cowboys and cowgirls decked out in pink supported by their pink-clad fans.

We must give a special thanks to our title sponsor Wrangler, who was instrumental in the launch of the campaign and continues to provide support to spread the word throughout the rodeo and western world.

About Wrangler
Wrangler Western Wear is available at more than 2,500 western specialty, mid-tier and workwear stores nationwide that provide quality mens and womens apparel and accessories. For more information regarding the Wrangler family of products or to locate the Wrangler retailer nearest you, visit http://www.wrangler.com or call 1.888.784.8571.

Montana Silversmiths is another partner that has been involved since the beginning and continues their support. http://www.montanasilversmiths.com.

Additional partner support comes from
Purple Cowboy Wines: http://www.purplecowboy.com
Rodeo Safety Equipment: http://www.rodeosafety1.com
http://www.baddogscoats.com/
http://www.animalcustoms.com/
Gypsy Soule: http://www.gypsysoule.com
Pendleton Whiskey: http://www.pendletonwhisky.com
PRCA: http://www.prorodeo.com
Las Vegas Events: http://www.lasvegasevents.com

Thank you to all that continue to support the Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign!

Terry Wheatley and Family