Parking Control Supervisors Natalie Laval and Jonathan Yu.
Sometimes colors are personal.
The color pink is very personal at this time of year for Parking Control Supervisor Natalie Laval. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And Laval is one of dozens of our parking control officers, or PCOs, and supervisors who are sporting specially designed patches to support breast cancer prevention and research.
Laval was a child when her mother died of breast cancer in 1989. And her grandmother succumbed to the disease when Laval was in high school.
“[My mother] was 37 when she died, and my grandmother was in her early 60s,” she said. “This hits close to home.”
The patches get a fair amount of attention. And people tend to be impressed when Laval explains why she has added a touch of pink to her uniform. “Everybody, so far, who has asked is like, ‘Oh, okay, that’s a good thing.’ They’re happy to see [what we’re doing].”
Parking control officers and supervisors are wearing this patch in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
How pink patches made their way to our PCOs’ arms
Parking Control Supervisor Jonathan Yu leads this effort. He was inspired by the Pink Patch Project, a breast cancer awareness campaign involving law enforcement and public safety agencies around the world, including the San Francisco Police Department and Sheriff’s Office.
Yu had wanted to do something similar at Parking Enforcement and Traffic for a while. It then became more important to him when he learned that the wife of a close friend had been diagnosed with breast cancer. “At the time they had small children,” Yu said.
So, Yu worked with a colleague to bring a patch project to Parking Enforcement and Traffic. The patches look like the standard emblems you see on PCO uniforms. But they have a pink border and lettering, instead of white. And there are other pink embellishments.
“We wanted the patches to mimic what we have already,” Yu explained.
Yu orders the patches himself. PCOs buy them from him and have them affixed to one of their uniforms. They can only wear the pink patches in October.
The project is now in its second year and has proven to be popular. “The first year I ordered 250 patches,” Yu said. “And then they all sold out.”
He ordered more this summer when parking staff began asking about them. It takes about a month to get the patches. Once they are available, Yu works to get the word out to everyone in the department.
A framed certificate of thanks from Bay Area Cancer Connections hangs in the offices of our Parking Enforcement and Traffic department.
Raising awareness and raising money
This project is a fundraiser as well as an awareness campaign. Yu donates the money he raises selling the pink patches to Bay Area Cancer Connections, a non-profit dedicated to educating and supporting people affected by breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
“Last year we donated, I think, $1400,” he noted.
All of this has also been a positive experience for the PCOs and supervisors. “It builds morale,” Yu said. “I think it’s good that we find something that we all have in common. I’ve noticed that a lot of people who wear the patches have a personal story [about cancer].”
Sometimes colors are personal.
Every day our PCOs keep San Francisco moving with their parking and traffic management work. And in October, the breast cancer awareness they help create with the color pink just might save lives.