The Pink Heals Tour to Help Raise Awareness

A new cancer is found every 30 seconds in the United States.

In Delaware, cancer is the second leading cause of death.

At the Hilton Wilmington/Christiana, Brandywine Valley’s Country Estate, our associates have been affected by cancer in many ways – we are survivors; we are friends and family of those diagnosed with the disease; we have lost loved ones.



The Guardians of the Ribbon are a group of firefighters and police officers driving across America to raise awareness and money for the fight against cancer specifically for women across the country. They are easy to spot in their pink fire engines and uniforms. The trucks are a living memorial, having been signed by survivors and those affected by cancer. They also travel with a large ribbon statue.

2009 marks the third Pink Heals Tour for the Guardians of the Ribbon. Typically, their stops include large venues and events. On Saturday, October 3rd, they made a special stop at the Hilton Wilmington/Christiana. This was the beginning of the hotel's commitment in the month of October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month - to raise awareness and support the cause in our community.



Hotel associates, guests, and passerbys joined together to greet the Guardians. We all waited excitedly outside of the Estate for them to arrive. Off in the distance, we began to hear sounds of fire engines and police cars. Then, we saw the Guardians coming…traffic stopped as two big pink fire engines made the turn into our pink balloon lined driveway.

The cheers of the crowd became silent as the engines pulled closer and we were all in awe of these living memorials. Slowly, we walked around reading all the words left by those that had been affected by breast cancer in some way. “Fight like a girl!” “Search for a cure!” “Fight, Believe, Heal!” And many in loving memories covered the engines so completely that there was not a blank spot to be seen.

We spent the remainder of the visit talking with the Guardians and their mission, exploring and "driving" the trucks, trying on the uniforms, playing with Jaspar, the fire engine dog, and of course, taking a lot of pictures!


Fund raising efforts at the hotel included making and selling pink ribbons to the staff and guests. Associates will wear these all month long. On Saturday, October 3rd, Front Desk Staff wore pink shirts and ties instead of the normal white of their uniforms. Their coach donated $5 for each person in the department that wore pink. The restaurant servers also wore pink ties on the day of the visit. We will continue to collect donations throughout the month of October.