Breast Cancer survivors and activists Saranne Rothberg, founder of The ComedyCures Foundation, and Geri Barish, who created the Long Island-based 1 in 9 Breast Cancer Action Coalition, will be the featured speakers for Mather Hospital’s 2012 Breast Cancer Victory Day on Saturday, Sept. 29 at noon.
The annual gathering is a day of triumph and togetherness for anyone who has been touched by breast cancer. Hundreds of survivors, family members and supporters will hear inspirational speakers, receive information on treatment and services, and receive emotional support from others who have shared their experience. Some participants will travel to the event via the Long Island Rail Road’s complimentary Victory Train, which makes all local stops from Penn Station to Port Jefferson. There is no fee to attend Victory Day.
The event begins at noon and lunch is provided to all participants following the event. Registration is required. To register, visit www.matherhospital.org/victory or call 631-686-7878. Breast Cancer Victory Day is sponsored by the Mather-St Charles Health Alliance and Astoria Federal Savings. The Fortunato Breast Health Center at Mather Hospital will be among the participants offering information at Victory Day.
Saranne Rothberg launched The ComedyCures Foundation, a not-for-profit group, from her chemo chair in 1999 as an outgrowth of her personal experience with the healing power of a comic perspective. She and her daughter discovered that therapeutic comedy served as a great family coping strategy as they dealt with Rothberg’s early stage IV cancer diagnosis.
According to Rothberg, “The ComedyCures Foundation brings joy, laughter and therapeutic humor programs to kids and grown-ups living with illness, depression, trauma, disabilities."
“Yes, laughter is great medicine!” says the funny CEO, Rothberg, who today is cancer-free and has taken ComedyCures’ life-affirming work to ill patients and families throughout the U.S. and around the world.
Long Island’s own Geri Barish founded 1 in 9, the Long Island Breast Cancer Action Coalition, in 1990 following her own diagnosis of breast cancer. The first breast cancer grassroots advocacy group in New York and one of the first in the country, 1 in 9’s goal is to promote awareness of the breast cancer epidemic through education, outreach, advocacy, and direct support of research, which is being done to find the causes of, and cures for, breast cancer and other related cancers.
Barish is a three-time breast cancer survivor who remains in the forefront in the battle against the high incidence of cancer on Long Island and has spearheaded major changes to local, state and federal legislation, resulting in new policies that positively impact people with cancer and help to clean up toxins in our environment.
The Coalition also operates Hewlett House, a resource center for those who are affected by any diagnosis of cancer. Volunteers include community members and physicians who offer emotional and psychological support groups for patients and their families.