By Alex Paul
Chronicle staff

     Those who were tough enough to wear pink at the Omak Stampede will help up to 36 uninsured women in Okanogan County receive a mammogram.
     Omak Stampede Inc. has donated $1,200 each to Okanogan-Douglas District Hospital in Brewster, North Valley Hospital in Tonasket and Mid-Valley Hospital Foundation in Omak.
     The funds were generated by the annual Tough Enough to Wear Pink project in which $1 of every ticket sold for the Friday evening performance of the Omak Stampede in August was dedicated to help stomp out breast cancer, said office manager Sarah Grooms.
     "This campaign was started by Wrangler," Grooms said. "In addition to the $1-per-ticket donation, we also sold pink scarves and donated that money. This was our fourth year."
     Grooms said the funds will help provide mammograms for 12 women at each of the hospitals.
     "We really hope to grow this project," Grooms said. "The mammograms are so important and many women without insurance won't get one."
     Funds also were generated by a barbecue at Weinstein Beverage. Food and drinks were provided by Caso's Country Foods, Okanogan.
     Radio station KCSY broadcast a live remote during the event and encouraged people to attend and make donations, Grooms said.
     In previous years, Stampede has donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, also a cancer prevention program.
     "What if we save just one of the 36 women? That's really something," Grooms said. "Plus, the mammograms will give the women some peace of mind. Our board of directors thought this was a good way to donate money into the communities that support the rodeo."
     In 2006, Tough Enough to Wear Pink donations internationally generated more than $1 million for breast cancer research.