St. Vincent’s SWIM Across the Sound will host its 13th Annual Breast Cancer Luncheon on Friday, October 17 at the Holiday Inn in Bridgeport. The event will begin with a Silent Auction at 10:00 a.m., followed by lunch at 12:00 p.m.
Thanks to underwriting sponsorships, 100% of the funds raised from the luncheon will be used to help women right here in the community battling cancer and provide free mammograms for the elderly and underserved. The SWIM provides wigs and prostheses, medication assistance, free transportation to treatments and appointments, day-care scholarships and support groups in addition to other types of financial assistance on a case-by-case basis for those who qualify.
This year’s featured speaker, New Canaan resident Jane Stoddard Williams is a WICC radio show host and philanthropist. She is the wife of Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News anchor. Jane Stoddard Williams is a former producer of the PBS series “Inside Story,” executive producer of “Panorama,” a daily, live news and public affairs program in Washington and a producer at WHYY and KYW-TV in Philadelphia. Honored for her philanthropic work, Williams currently serves as chair of the Horizons Student Enrichment Program National Board and is a grant committee member of the Fairfield County Fund for Women and Girls. She has also advocated for Duke University’s Council on Women’s Studies and worked at the U.S. State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research in Washington and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in New York.
Co-chairs of the event, Gigi F. Berg of Aquarion Company and Joyce Riccio, Esq. along with Diane Mercado, director of the auction, hope to top the $220,000 raised last year. Oxford resident Sandy Reyes, who is the mobile mammography coordinator at St. Vincent’s SWIM Women’s Imaging Center, will be honored at the luncheon for her work in supporting the women of Fairfield County through mammography outreach and breast cancer awareness promotion.
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer death in women after lung cancer. This year, more than 175,000 new cases of female invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed and approximately 40,000 women will die from the disease. While rare, it is also possible for men to develop breast cancer. Annual breast examinations by a medical professional are required complements to annual screening mammograms.
Ticket donations for the luncheon are $60 at the patron level and $120 for sponsors. Local businesses can also sponsor the luncheon’s centerpieces for $200.
To purchase tickets for the luncheon or for more information, call St. Vincent’s Foundation office at 576-5451 or visit www.swimacrossthesound.org.
