Paint Port Pink Kick-Off Event Oct. 1 at Port Jefferson Village Hall

September 24, 2015

With the flip of a switch the Port Jefferson Village Hall tree will be illuminated in pink lights on Oct. 1, marking the official kick-off for John T. Mather Memorial Hospital’s month-long Paint Port Pink breast cancer awareness campaign.

Mayor Margot Garant and Mather Board Member Judith Fortunato will do the honors at the Village Hall event, which begins at 6:30 pm. At the same time, Village Hall, Theatre Three, the Port Jefferson Ferry Terminal and more than 60 local businesses will be awash in pink light. The water in the downtown fountain will be "pinked" with environmentally safe dye, and the lawn at Village Hall will be filled with plastic pink flamingos as cheerleaders from Earl L. Vandermeulen High School launch their "flamingo flocking" campaign to raise funds for the Fortunato Breast Health Center.

Paint Port Pink is presented by Astoria Bank with the support of North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates, Long Island Physician Associates, LI Anesthesia Physicians, People’s United Bank, Suffolk Plastic Surgeons and Gordon L. Seaman.

The month-long outreach will distribute breast cancer information, raise funds for the Fortunato Breast Health Center and increase breast health awareness throughout our community with the cooperation of the sponsors and the Village of Port Jefferson, the Port Jefferson School District, North Shore Art Guild, Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce and other local organizations. All money raised will benefit the Fortunato Breast Health Center Fund for Uninsured.

For a detailed list of Paint Port Pink activities, go to www.matherhospital.org/pink

John T. Mather Memorial Hospital is an accredited 248-bed, non-profit community teaching hospital dedicated to providing a wide spectrum of high quality healthcare services to Suffolk County residents, showing compassion and respect and treating each patient in the manner we would wish for our loved ones. Mather has earned the prestigious Magnet® recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), which recognizes healthcare organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice. Mather also has received seven consecutive top "A" ratings from The Leapfrog Group for patient safety.