AUBURN — Carlene Sperry was not looking for recognition or celebrity. She simply wanted to use her own experiences as a breast cancer survivor to help others going through the same misfortune.

Since being diagnosed with the disease nearly eight years ago, Sperry has made raising money and awareness to fight breast cancer virtually a full-time job.

Now Sperry, 51, of Auburn has won a nationwide essay competition held by the Jewelry Information Center, an arm of the Jewelers of America.

Her husband, Mitch Sperry, submitted an essay to the Gems Among Us competition without her knowing it. The grand prize is a $5,000 jewelry shopping spree and a four-day trip to the Aventura Spa Palace Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Sperry beat out almost 700 others from across the country, according to the Jewelry Information Center.

The essay reads, in part, “A breast cancer survivor for over seven years, Carlene’s life has been transformed by her experience with cancer. She made it her mission to give back, to share what she had gone through, to help make life easier for others faced with a similar cancer diagnosis.”

The essay details those efforts, which include acting as a volunteer for the American Cancer Society’s Look Good … Feel Better program and as a team captain for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk for the past five years.

Mitch, a 25-year veteran with the Auburn Fire Department, learned of the contest in October, when the manager of Republic Jewelery and Collectibles in Auburn, Chrissy Ames, called him and encouraged him to enter Carlene in the competition.

Ames and Sperry had collaborated to produce the Heart of Hope Collection, a line of heart-shaped sterling silver and pink sapphire pendants designed by Sperry and sold only at Republic. Twenty percent of the proceeds from the collection goes to the Heart of Hope Charitable Fund, according to Republic’s website. Sperry set up the nonprofit fund last year to provide assistance to breast cancer patients in the Lewiston-Auburn area.

“Carlene’s a real great person,” Ames said. “She’s so deserving of it.”

“It’s been so surreal,” Sperry said of the days since she learned she had won on Nov. 23. “It’s just now sinking in.”

Sperry said she didn’t work alone, citing her friends, family and especially, her husband, for their support.

“Could she do it without me?” Mitch asked. “I think she’d do it one way or another.”

“I don’t do what I do for national recognition,” Sperry said. “I don’t want to be a celebrity. When it comes to breast cancer awareness, I just can’t say no. And I can’t stop.”