FORT SMITH -- The future of breast cancer education in the River Valley is looking a little more pink.

Lorie Robertson, founder and chair of Paint Chaffee Pink, announced Tuesday that her group would be coming under the management of the Reynolds Cancer Support House.

At the meeting, Paint Chaffee Pink also donated $21,000 to the Reynolds Cancer Support House, up from $16,500, which was the amount originally estimated to have been raised during the October event.

Robertson said the announcement came as the organization has continued to grow in recent years as a nonprofit. The group needed help in order to expand its fundraising efforts, having grown beyond Robertson's capacity to manage it.

"We will just move the event onto the house event calendar, and that will give us the capacity to expand our reach, our messaging and programming," Robertson said. "We will be like the committee, because every event has a committee, and all of our members ... will come on in, and everyone will share best practices with the house staff. The house staff was really incredible this year and gave us resources that we didn't have."

Robertson noted that the group is not a 501(c)3 organization, having previously partnered with the River Valley Film Society, which is a nonprofit, so by going under the Reynolds Cancer Support House they are not dissolving anything.

Paint Chaffee Pink is a breast cancer awareness event that honors survivors and helps to share various education materials about the issue with people at the event. The most recent Paint Chaffee Pink event was held Oct. 5 and included a community walk and a survivor benefit to raise money for their cause.

When the organization was first founded, Robertson said there was no other campaign or event that raised money locally for this kind of treatment.

"Paint Chaffee Pink is organic to Fort Smith ... it was originated by survivors, volunteers and people who want to battle breast cancer," Robertson said. "What I mean by battle is to increase education, awareness and support about women going through the battle."

The house, officials said, provides a wide range of support to those going through cancer diagnoses in the region, offering various support groups and aid programs. Some support the Reynolds Cancer Support House offers includes handing out protein shakes to patients going through treatment and giving gas cards to those with difficulty affording the cost of traveling to appointments.

Another major service provided at the support house is a room of wigs that are donated to the organization, with those patients losing their hair due to treatment able to receive two free wigs, which are then styled.

Dawn Turner, executive director of Cancer Support Foundation that oversees the house, said she was happy about the announcement and felt that it was a good move by both organizations.

"Moving forward we will still have the same committee and hopefully some new committee members that will help plan the event because we are a small staff and many of our events are planned by volunteers anyways, so it was a great opportunity to do that," Turner said. "It allows us to anchor it and to always know that it is always going to continue with us here and keep supporting our mission."

Lorie Robertson, founder of Paint Chaffee Pink, announced Thursday that the annual event helped raise $21,000 for the Reynolds Cancer Support House this year. This was an increase over the original fundraising estimate for last month's event, which was $16,500. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Shane Monaco)