JOHNSTOWN, CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ Plus) — Bishop McCort is tying the community together with their annual Ovarian Cancer Awareness Campaign.

Each year students and staff tie teal ribbons in and around Johnstown to raise awareness.

“Hopefully people will see that and have a conversation about it at home with family and loved ones and promote awareness and promote getting checked,” said Tom Smith, Principal at Bishop McCort.

For many women, Ovarian Cancer is known as the silent killer.

“It’s not talked about enough. You know you see all these women dying from it because they catch it too late and they don’t know the symptoms,” said Benjamin Smith, sophomore at Bishop McCort.

Molly McCullough is a senior at Bishop McCort whose aunt passed away from Ovarian Cancer.

“She didn’t know about the symptoms and she lots her life because she wasn’t aware of them,” said McCullough.

“I think it’s extremely important because to get the word out just because to spread the news to all the women so they know how deadly this is and how deadly it can be,” said Lauren Sprincz, senior at Bishop McCort.

The school partners with the Anne Harris Smith Foundation for their yearly campaign. The foundation is named after Ben Smith’s grandmother who lost her battle with cancer in 2002. While she may not be here today, her fight to help other women certainly is.

“An early catch to this could save your life. One of her things she always said was if we could help just one woman we are making a difference,” said Smith. “Throughout the foundation’s time we’ve made tremendous strides toward getting more and more people aware and educated about the disease and we’ve helped a lot of people. We’re going to continue to do that for years to come.”

More information about symptoms and about the cancer can be found by clicking here.