PENDLETON — Blue denim jeans and Western shirts are the style every Pendleton Round-Up, but on Thursday, Sept. 16, one color will dominate the scene: pink.

Tough Enough to Wear Pink Day is now in its 15th year at the Round-Up. The event, a fundraiser for local cancer patients, also seeks to raise cancer awareness.

Anyone who is not wearing pink at the Round-Up on Thursday might look a bit our of place. Even the cowboys will be wearing pink. People might even ask such people, “Are you tough enough to wear pink?”

“This is a big deal,” said Casey White-Zollman, Pendleton Round-Up TETWP co-chair with Jill Gregg. White-Zollman has helped with the event since 2014.

Last year should have been the 15th anniversary for the event, but it was canceled with the rest of the Round-Up. Since it started at the Round-Up in 2005, TETWP has roped in nearly $300,000, according to White-Zollman.

The money, she said, goes to local cancer survivors and patients. Beneficiaries include the St. Anthony Hospital Cancer Clinic, supporting local cancer patients with travel costs, wigs, mastectomy bras and more. Money also goes to Kick’n Cancer New Beginnings, a group for cancer survivors who are less than 10 years in remission. Kick’n tries to keep cancer survivors healthy by offering them yoga, massage, nutrition assistance and more.

A third beneficiary, The Round Up for TETWP, is new this year. From August to October, people will be able to “round up” their purchases to the nearest dollar at area merchants. The balance is directed to the East Oregon Cancer Network, which supports patients who are visiting from out of town. A patient house is available to visiting patients, but there is need for a second house.

White-Zollman is glad for all of the support. Tough Enough sets up two booths at Round-Up, and people flock to those booths to buy T-shirts and other merchandise. The commemorative pins are especially hot, as people collect them.

The organization also holds a raffle. This year, Pendleton Hat Company will make a custom hat and case for the winner of the raffle. Montana Silversmiths is donating a one-of-a-kind, custom belt buckle for the winner of another raffle. The drawing will be held at the arena, after the Indian dancing, and the winner will be announced.

And then there is the “big, pink boot,” which people can use for their donations.

“People are very generous,” White-Zollman said. “It’s amazing. When they see our booths, they come rushing over to show their support and tell their stories.”

This is a learning opportunity, as well as a giving opportunity, she said. Around 1:45 p.m., cancer patients and survivors line up with their families and walk through the arena. Seeing this walk, and being part of this walk, people recognize the large number of individuals who have endured cancer.

Like other charities that rely on Round-Up week, the 2020 cancellation of Pendleton’s showcase even meant Tough Enough could not fundraise as in previous years. The Round-Up’s Let’er Buck Cares fund, however, gave $10,000 to TETWP for its beneficiaries.

Deb Shampine, volunteer for both Kick’n Cancer and Tough Enough to Wear Pink, said her groups make a difference for people. She has seen both the groups grow since she started working with them.

Shampine regularly encounters people who have benefited from Kick’n Cancer and Tough Enough, and they are inevitably grateful. This makes Shampine’s work very satisfying, she said.

Lisa Hummell is a certified fitter for mastectomy prosthetics and a TETWP volunteer. As such, she has known many people who have benefited from the group. Thanks to TETWP funds, patients have received prosthetics, emergency funding and travel expenses.

She said she is grateful for the opportunity to help others. Seeing people helped at Round-Up makes her emotional.

“It’s pretty powerful,” she said. “I’m just glad I can be part of it.”

Kathryn Youngman, Tough Enough to Wear Pink volunteer, said not only does she help this cause, she has received help from it. Youngman, a Pendleton High School teacher, has had cancer multiple times, and she has received funds from the organization.

She first had cancer in 1991, Hodgkin’s disease. Following this, she had a neuroendocrine sinus tumor in 2013 and breast cancer in 2016. Her students that year began a Twitter campaign so she could appear on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

“I’ve had extraordinary things happen to me,” she said.

Youngman, however, does not accept people calling her exceptional; it’s just the events around her that have been special. Also, she said, the people in her life have been outstanding.

Donations helped when she needed to drive to the Tri-Cities every day for chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Loved ones, including her mother, were very helpful, but she also credited strangers for helping her to be a survivor. Anonymous donations helped make it possible for her to survive.

She wants people to know TETWP exists, and they help people — not just women, but also men.

“It’s so nice that there is an organization like Tough Enough to Wear Pink,” she said.