St. Thomas More School sixth grade student Te'ja Munnings's breast cancer awareness initiative continues to spread as $771 -- proceeds from the school's Performance Art Department's recent Ribbons For Life: Colors of Love Concert was donated to The Cancer Society of The Bahamas. Te'ja herself presented an additional $150 to The Cancer Society, the proceeds from her Ribbons For Life ribbons and cookie sales.

The St. Thomas More Performance Art Department under the direction of Adelia Davis and Nikki Carter staged the performance. The donation came from proceeds from the door admission.

Te'ja, 11 was pleased that she had brought the awareness to her school. She is one of the youth who thinks about more than herself and how many presents she can get for special occasions. For the last six months, Te'ja has been making and selling ribbons to raise funds to help find a cure and to assist The Cancer Society of The Bahamas and people suffering from cancer. Through her Ribbons For Life, Te'ja's mission is to bring awareness to children and young adults of the different cancers that affect people and to give back.

The St. Thomas More student learned how to make her ribbons with the help of a cousin, Erika Hamilton, with whom she had previously made bows. Hamilton helped Te'ja come up with the design for her cancer ribbon. Te'ja's ribbons comprised of 11 of the 26 colors that are representative of cancers -- gold (childhood cancer), orange (Leukemia), lime green (Lymphoma), yellow (Sarcoma/bone cancer), purple (Pancreatic/Leomyosarcoma), periwinkle (esophageal cancer), teal (ovarian cancer), pink (breast cancer), navy (colon cancer), light blue (prostate cancer), and white (lung cancer), sell for $5 per ribbon.

The recent three-figure donation came on the heels of a previous three-figure donation Te'ja had made to the Cancer Society as recently as January.

The Cancer Society of The Bahamas is using the image of Te'ja's cancer ribbon on their flyers for their upcoming 14th Annual Ball to be held under the theme "Colors of Hope" on Saturday, May 23. They have also extended an invitation to the youngster who is eager to attend. Te'ja is also a nominee for the Primary School Student of the Year award, a ceremony that will be held on the same day as the ball. Her mother, Maranada Lightbourne, says she does not know how it will get done, but has promised her daughter that she will do her best to get her to both events. Te'ja has even gotten Hamilton to make her a dress in the color scheme of her ribbon to wear to the ball.

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