The lanes are being polished and participants are working on their skills that will give them a 'strike' when the 2nd Annual Cindi Smith Bowling for Breast Cancer rolls in.
The two-day tournament is being held in aid of all breast cancer survivors and their families. It is the only fundraising event for the month of October that the Sister/Sister Breast Cancer support group will host. The tournament will take place at Mario's Bowling and Family Entertainment Palace, October 20-21. Part proceeds will be donated to the group which offers financial and emotional support to cancer patients and their families.

The Sister/Sister Breast Cancer support group played an integral part in the life of Cindi Smith who passed away on June 17, 2012. She was 31.
Darlene Sands, Smith's sister is the organizer for the tournament. She said: "She was a wonderful person, who went through so much in her final years. To see and know she was going through so much pain was crushing. It was hard on us as a family because we wanted to help. We wanted to take the pain away. But there was nothing we could do in terms of getting relief for her. She would always ask for us to massage her feet and rub her where it hurt and we never refused. That was our little way of assisting making sure she was in comforted.
"When we first found out I leaned heavily on Shantell. She offered her support as a friend and a breast cancer survivor who is involved in the Sister/Sister Breast Cancer support group. We as a family needed that because it was new to us. Cindi was very grateful for all the support."
The annual bowling tournament is just one of many fundraising initiatives the female support group hosts. According to Shantell Cox-Hutchinson, a member of the group, more programs are being looked at to raise additional funds so more support can be given.

A public appeal was extended to individuals, families and small businesses as well as corporate Bahamas earlier this week. Since the main thrust of the support group is to assist women going through breast cancer treatment and those who were recently diagnosed, the venture can be very costly.

Cox-Hutchison explains: "I met Cindi through Darlene when she was diagnosed in 2008. Being a breast cancer survivor myself Darlene came and asked me to talk to Cindi at that time. I spoke to Cindi so I've been with Cindi and her family during the entire ordeal. It was very, very rough because Cindy was only 28 at the time she was diagnosed. She had a very hard time accepting that she was diagnosed and that she had any kind of cancer. I think that took a toll on her mental state. She was depress a lot.

"Being a part of Sister/Sister which is another arm that offers support during that entire time. In 2011 she needed to go for a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan, she didn't know what it was. But she was having some issues with her bones. She was feeling weak and she had a lot of symptoms. This is what Sister/Sister is all about, garnering funds for these type of events. We help people to go and get PET Computed Tomography (CT). They can range anywhere from $3,500 to $5,000.

"This is one of the things we offer especially to young women and Cindi. When she took the PET CT and it came back we knew that something was wrong. The cancer had spreaded through her entire body, mainly in her pelvic area. That was one of the reasons she couldn't walk she had to be lifted everywhere. So the whole community was behind Cindi."
The bowling tournament will cater to teams who are encouraged to register by September 30. There is a small charge of $25 for the 10 person team. Trophies and other prizes will be awarded to the top three teams and bowlers.

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