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TUCSON - October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and KVOA, along with some other local media, is teaming up with Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Messages will be spread throughout the community, through local radio and TV stations, The Loft Cinema, and community members.

The campaign "31 Days of Pink Action" will include a 4-part series on interviews, as well as a breast health education initiative called "Players in Pink."

It will target young women through a collaboration with middle and high school athletic teams in Southern Arizona.

Komen staff will give the teams pink shoelaces and Komen tattoos for their various sporting events. The staff will also supply educational materials and speakers.

The classic '80's film "Pretty in Pink" will be shown at The Loft, along with a benefit event, on October 29.

There will also be a Girls' Night Out shopping extravaganza, restaurant fundraisers, "Fit for the Cure" bra fittings at Dillard's stores and more.

Local churches will participate with "Faith in Pink," a grassroots effort to educate their membrs on breast health and breast cancer. They'll also address the gap in access to care for women with little or no health insurance.

A recent study by Susan G. Komen for the Cure Southern Arizona finds certain groups in the U.S. population have low mammography rates, and 5-year survival rates are lower than the national average. More detailed results of that study will be released in October.

"Our own statistics and the stories we are hearing from survivors and patients tell us that now is the time to act, and October is just the start of it. We hope to rally Southern Arizonans in our mission to improve early detection rates and focus on groups of our population who really need our help," said Jaimie Leopold, executive directof for Susan G. Komen for the Cure Southern Arizona.