Project aids fight against cancer Sponsors sought for planting tulips

BANGOR – Keep Bangor Beautiful on Tuesday announced it will partner with the Pink Tulip Project to plant 5,000 bulbs in city gardens and on the University of Maine campus.

Founded by breast cancer survivor Robin Whitten of Portland, the project aims to raise funds – and awareness – for the Women’s Cancer Fund at the Maine Cancer Foundation.

It started with 400 bulbs planted in a square in Portland, and this year, Gibson Realty Inc. of Portland has underwritten the purchase of 15,000 “Angelique” tulip bulbs to be planted in Bangor, Orono, Portland, Lewiston and Auburn.

When Whitten was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2004, the fact that her garden, mostly bulbs, already had been planted was a great comfort to her.

“By then, I was through my surgery, I had started my treatments and was faced with the prospect of losing my hair,” Whitten, 56, of Portland, said. “It was my hope that I would get through this and my garden would be there.”

Whitten and Aurelia Scott, the Pink Tulip Project’s organizers, hope to see pink tulips in every Maine town before long. Local volunteers will plant 1,000 bulbs at the University of Maine campus and 4,000 in Bangor’s public parks in early October.

The project seeks sponsorships for the planting of anywhere from 10 to 1,000 tulips – in memory of or in honor of a loved one – for a donation of $1 per tulip. Its goal is to raise $15,000 for the Maine Cancer Foundation.

For information on the project, visit www.mainecancer.org and click on the “merchandise” link, or e-mail pinktulips@mainecancer.org.

To get involved locally, call Katherine Guerin at Keep Bangor Beautiful at 990-1201.