Support Local Cancer Fighters: Join 'Where's the Pink' Event

What began with an idea Ed Douglas dreamed up in 2022 has become an annual fundraiser for local cancer support and Wings of Eden, an envisioned end-of-life care home.

just now

A group of five people posing together outdoors, dressed in colorful costumes. Three women in pink Power Ranger outfits, one woman in a black Catwoman costume, and an older man in a blue jacket with a pink shirt. The background features autumn foliage and a wooden structure with a sign promoting an event.

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Coastal Kayaking Tours and Acadia Bike.

BAR HARBOR—As you entered Mainely Meat on Dreamwood Hill Sunday, a poster taped onto the wood by the entrance spotlighted the faces of locals. One after another, the poster showed, face after face of people who fought—or were fighting—cancer.

“Just some of the superheroes we know and love. Most are local. Some hold a special place in our hearts,” the company wrote on its Facebook page. “All cancer sucks.”

The post continued, “Here are to the ones who fought and won, the ones who keep fighting, and to the ones we have lost. I don’t know anyone that has not been touched by someone with cancer. To all our superheroes. We love you.”

A collage of photos dedicated to heroes, featuring diverse individuals in various settings, including portraits and group moments, with a prominent graphic that says 'Our Heroes' in pink.

A pink donation jar decorated with feathers and a sign that reads 'DONATION' in large letters, placed on a counter next to a glass jar labeled 'TAKODA TIPS'.

A table featuring various cakes and cupcakes with decorative frosting, attended by a woman in sunglasses. The scene is outdoors with autumn foliage in the background.

Beneath the poster was a table full of pink pens, punk rubber duckies and a message that implored visitors to support the cause.

That cause?

It’s to help local people fighting cancer in multiple ways.

It’s a cause close to the family behind Mainely Meat’s hearts all year long, but it becomes a big community event each year in October where they raise money to help.

The original vision came to Ed Douglas when he was down in Florida back in 2022, he explained as he perched at the bar at Mainely Meat.

He kept seeing pink.

His sister, Laura Johnson, stood proudly next to him while he spoke. His dad came bustling in as the staff served barbecue to happy customers. Another family member stood by the door, waiting to help people. Whippoorwill Wood played at the bandstand. The smell of smoked meat drifted through the air.

None of that was unusual.

But what might be a bit odd is that some of the staff were dressed up like superheroes. Pink shirts adorned others. Alongside the building on Dreamwood Hill on Route 3 in Bar Harbor were silent auction items. A table full of cupcakes and deserts was set up on the gravel, just beyond the picnic tables.

All of this was because of Ed’s dream.

While Ed Douglas was visiting some shops in the Florida Keys four years ago, he kept hearing people ask the workers, “Where’s the pink?”

“The shopgoers were seeking pink shirts but were not finding many,” Laura said.

Soon after that experience, Ed fell asleep and he dreamed of raising money for people fighting breast cancer by selling pink shirts.

“Ed doesn’t rest easy until he pursues his ideas, so borne from his dream was the first batch of pink t-shirts and the first annual ‘Where’s the Pink’ party,” Laura said back in 2023.

A group of people chatting at an outdoor event, with a banner promoting Breast Cancer Awareness in the background. One person is dressed in a superhero costume, while another has colorful hair. The atmosphere appears friendly and engaging.

A male musician playing an acoustic guitar and singing into a microphone, while a female vocalist stands beside him holding a microphone. The female singer wears sunglasses and a light pink sweater, with a tulle skirt. The setting is a decorated music stage with warm lighting.

Sometimes a vision can create a movement, or at the very least do good locally for people who need some extra help.

That’s what Laura Johnson hopes will come from one of her brother’s visions in 2022. That’s what Ed hopes, too.

At that first party, they raised roughly $1,200. They gave it away to local people people they’d found—or knew—that had cancer.

The second year the goal was to raise $3,000.

“This woman happened to come in and she’d just been diagnosed with cancer, and he turned around and just gave it to her,” Laura said, gesturing toward Ed.

He couldn’t resist. He had to help.

But that local wasn’t the only one who has cancer. And Ed’s vision doesn’t stop after one year and neither has Laura’s and others’ work stopped. They all want to make Ed’s vision a reality.

WINGS OF EDEN

Two women dressed in superhero costumes at an outdoor event. One is wearing a black cat costume with ears, while the other is dressed as Batgirl with a yellow cape and bat symbol.

A banner promoting Breast Cancer Awareness with pink ribbons, encouraging strength, hope, and support, displayed in a cozy patio setting adorned with lights and wooden decor.

A woman dressed as Wonder Woman and a man in a red Incredibles costume pose together outdoors, smiling. The background features trees and a patio with chairs and tables.

Helen Douglas, the matriarch of the family, was a well known and accomplished artist and healer in Bar Harbor who died in 2021 from cancer in the home she was born in.

Just before Helen died, her family was able to organize it so that the people who loved her could gather on the lawn of her home on Route 3, just down the hill from Mainely Meat. Some played music. Some waved. Some played crystal singing bowls. Some just sang. Luminaries lined the road from Helen’s house all the way up the hill toward the restaurant.

“It looked like a stairway to Heaven,” Laura remembered.

Not everyone gets that remembrance, but Ed wants people who are dying in Hancock County from cancer to have a bit more, especially a bit more of a choice on where they die.

These last couple of years, he’s also been raising money for Wings of Eden, which would be an end-of-life care home in Hancock County.

“My wife still thinks this is all Laura’s idea,” Ed said with a small chuckle. It’s a family effort and it’s all from that vision. “I know hospice workers who don’t have a hospice house to go to. They travel all over like they traveled to our mom’s house.”

Half the money raised at this year’s event will go to the Wings of Eden and half to Beth Wright Cancer Center, Laura explained.

“Some people can’t die at home and they don’t want to die in the hospital,” Ed said.

The home is a big project that will need a lot of our support, but each year that they raise money toward it is another step closer to making it a reality.

“I’m always praying for the right people to come into Wings of Eden’s life,” he said.

Wings of Eden will provide a safe, loving, and caring environment for patients to receive end-of-life care. It’s not meant to be a hospice house so Medicare wouldn’t govern how long people stayed.

“Once a patient resides in this home, following a terminal diagnosis that allows them to receive hospice care, they may remain there until they pass. While there, residents will be able to receive services from hospice personnel according to the rules that govern hospice, but they will also have the 24-hour company and comfort of Wings of Eden volunteers,” Laura has previously explained.

The goal is to create Wings of Eden and allow people to use it with no out-of-pocket cost. The goal is to help.

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

Two men standing inside a colorful ice cream shop decorated for a fundraising event. One man is dressed in a costume resembling a superhero with a cape, while the other is wearing a bright pink shirt with a cancer awareness theme. Various signs and decorations can be seen in the background.

Two older men sitting in a diner, one with a blue hat and the other with a military-style cap, both wearing pink shirts. The background features a colorful decor with flowers and a person in a pink outfit in the distance.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

According to the Susan G. Komen site, “For nearly four decades now, the country has recognized October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is a time annually devoted to educating everyone about breast cancer — including metastatic breast cancer (MBC) — and the importance of early detection and access to timely, high-quality care.”

According to the Maine DHHS, in 2019 in Hancock County, there were approximately 130 new breast cancer diagnosis per 100,000 population.

In Maine in 2023, there were 1,490 breast cancer diagnoses.

According to the 2023, Maine Cancer Report, “The four most common newly diagnosed cancers in Maine are lung and bronchus, female breast, prostate, and colon and rectum.”