June 2014
Gilda’s Club New York City creates welcoming communities of free support for everyone living with cancer – men, women, teens
and children – along with their families and friends. Our innovative program is an essential complement to medical care, providing
support and networking groups, workshops, educational lectures and social activities, all free of charge.
Cocktails: 6:00pm
Dinner: 7:30pm
IN THIS ISSUE
The 7th Annual Benefit Luncheon
Celebrating Women Working & Living with Cancer
7th Annual Benefit Luncheon
Announcing:
The EMCOR Penguin Pink
Hard Hat Ribbon for
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
November 13, 2014
The Pierre Hotel
Save the Date
Celebrating Our Family
19th Annual Benefit Gala
GCNYC Associate Board:
Young professionals
making a difference
Gilda’s Club New York City
195 West Houston Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 647-9700
www.gildasclubnyc.org
@gildasclubnyc
#gildasclubnyc
GCNYC Celebrates 19 Years
Member Spotlight:
Mary Elizabeth Williams
GCNYC represents at the
EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women
& TD Five Boro Bike Tour
New! Gilda Comes To You
adds Mt. Sinai to its list
Photo by: Rob Rich/SocietyAllure.com
L-R: Anna Protopapas, Jami Rubin, Amy Robach, Fran Heller, Mary Elizabeth Williams, Lily Safani
More than 270 guests helped to
raise over $356,000 for Gilda’s Club
New York City at this year’s soldout 7th annual benefit luncheon,
Celebrating Women Working &
Living with Cancer, held on May
14th at the Metropolitan Club of
New York.
Anna Protopapas, President of
Millennium: The Takeda Oncology
Company and Global Head of
Business Development at Takeda
Pharmaceuticals received the Red
continued on page 5 …
The EMCOR Penguin Pink Hard Hat Ribbon
for Breast Cancer Awareness Month
We are very excited to announce
What is this event you might ask?
that Gilda’s Club NYC was chosen
Begun six years ago, this national
to be the beneficiary of the EMCOR campaign involves thousands of
Penguin Pink Hard Hat Event for
continued on page 3 …
Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
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Board of Directors
Robert J. Easton, Chairman
Mark J. Alles
Laura Bartlett
Rob Bochicchio
Brian Cohen
Anthony N. Dalessio
Robert C. Faulkner
Amanda Goddard, PhD
Carl S. Goldfischer, MD
Sharyn N. Lewin, MD
Ellen A. Lubman
Matthew R. Patterson
Michael J. Posillico
Andrea F. Rabney
Jami Rubin
Francis J. Russo
Anthony J. Sartor
Alexander Scott
William Slattery
Associate Board
Krista Gundersen, Chair
Julia Bartlett
Tracey Doolin
Whitnee Glinski
Courtney Greenspan
Blaike A. Hannay
Maxwell Horn
Megan Knurr
Jessica Krieger
Rachel Krieger
Andrew Levison
Rada Milenovici
Ellie Newman
Bridgette Payne
Ashley Sampson
Ari Schnitzer
Jaclyn Steinhart
John Switzer
Jessica Trujillo
Stefani Zien
Staff
Lily Safani, CEO
Migdalia Torres
Deborah K. Wilson
Nadine Bartholomew
Christine Braunstein
Joshua Fesi
Michele Halusic
Carolina Hoires
Eileen Jackson
Michelle Marte
Ramona Maysonet
Jordan Patinkin
Michelle Ramlochan
Nicole Randall
Pontip Rasavong
Young Professionals Making a Difference
Since 2007, the Associate Board
(AB) of Gilda’s Club NYC has
been devoting its time and energy
to supporting GCNYC through
fundraising, participating in activities
such as the NYC Marathon and TD
5 Boro Bike Tour, and volunteering
at numerous internal and external
events.
These young professionals and
philanthropic individuals are generous
in their commitment to Gilda’s
Club as evidenced by their recent
fundraiser, The Gildie Awards.
Held this year at the music landmark
Webster Hall on April 10th, the 3rd
annual event attracted more than 125
individuals who enjoyed music by
DJ Whitney and band Temporary
Grace as well as delicious shrimp
rolls donated by Luke’s Lobster and
intoxicating libations from Tito’s
Handmade Vodka, Palm Ale, and
Fire Island Beer Company.
The highlight of the evening was a
moving speech by a young Gilda’s
Club member, Emma Burger, who
read from her 2012 award winning
essay she had written for GCNYC’s
“It’s Always Something” Teen Essay
Contest. Rebecca Zorowitz Oren of
Ooh La La Brands received the Heart
of Gold Award and Board Chair,
Krista Gundersen, received an award
for her dedication and leadership to
the AB and Gilda’s Club.
We are excited to include
Mount Sinai Hospital as one of
our newest Gilda Comes To You
(GCTY) partners.
Our partnership kicked off with
a community breakfast reception
on Wednesday, May 28th at the
Ruttenberg Center.
The program will offer a weekly
Spanish speaking cancer support
group, educational workshops and
lectures beginning mid-June.
More than $12,000 was raised that
evening to support our program. We
extend our heartfelt gratitude to The
Gildie Awards co-chairs,
Ashley Sampson and Ari Schnitzer,
and the entire board for making this
such a successful event.
Gilda Comes to You is our offsite
programming which allows Gilda’s
Club NYC to extend cancer support
to communities throughout the
boroughs of New York City.
If you are interested in learning more
about the AB or would like to be
on the invite list for AB events and
activities, please contact:
Michelle Ramlochan at
[email protected]
Clubhouse Lecture
Health Literacy: The Most Important
Tool for Your Health
The AB and friends will be hosting its first
Friday Happy Hour at City Winery on
Friday, June 20 from 5:30-7:30. RSVPs are
not necessary and all are welcome.
June 12
Clubhouse Lecture
Becoming a Parent After Cancer A Surrogacy Journey
Social events will be scheduled throughout
the summer. Please refer to the AB page
on our website for updated listings.
June 13
Member Event
GCNYC Birthday Party
June 20
Associate Board Networking Event
City Winery Happy Hour
Photos by: Wonderpug Graphics /Carolann Dematos
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Celebration
On Thursday, May 8th, members
along with their family and friends
celebrated at our Fiesta Social
Event. The festivities included lively
music and Latin dance instruction
by Steve Kerner!
Thank you to El Toro Blanco for
donating their delicious chips,
salsas and guacamole and Cowgirl
BBQ for donating their awesome
chili, corn bread and brownie bites.
For more information about any of the listed events, please visit our website at
www.gildasclubnyc.org under Special Events or email [email protected]
June 3
Looking forward...
Fiesta
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
JUNE
GildaGram
Publication of the Development Office
Deborah Wilson, Director of Development
Pontip Rasavong, Development and Marketing
Communications Associate
Gilda’s Club New York City, Inc.
195 West Houston Street • New York, NY 10014
(212) 647-9700 • [email protected]
www.gildasclubnyc.org • @gildasclubnyc
Gilda Comes To Mount Sinai Hospital
June 30
Clubhouse Lecture
Chemobrain: How New Research
can Help Survivors and Loved Ones
Understand and Cope Effectively
JULY
July 4
Clubhouse Closed
July 10
Associate Board Event
Summer Mixer for
Young Professionals
SEPTEMBER
September 30
Breakfast Club Series
Topic TBD
OCTOBER
October 7
Special Event
EMCOR Penguin
Pink Hard Hat Ribbon
NOVEMBER
November 2
TCS NYC Marathon
November 13
Benefit Event
19th Anniversary Benefit Gala
All Clubhouse Lectures are free
and open to the public.
Please call 212.647.9700 to register.
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Gilda’s Club NYC Teams Make Their Miles Count
The first weekend in May is always an exciting time at Gilda’s Club NYC.
On Saturday May 3rd, staff members,
Gilda’s Club program participants, and
family and friends joined together in
support of the EIF Revlon Run/Walk
for Women in New York City.
This year, Gilda’s Club had 24
volunteers and 52 awesome team
members raised over $8,000 towards
the fight against women’s cancers.
… continued from page 1
We are truly honored to be a part of such
an amazing event and extremely grateful
for being a beneficiary for the 16th year in a
row. Thank you to EIF Revlon Run/Walk for
Women, and all of our team members and
volunteers for making this day so beautiful.
EMCOR employees across the
U.S. wearing EMCOR Penguin
Pink Hard Hats on its job sites
throughout the month of October
and also forming huge human Pink
Hard Hat Ribbons.
Protect Yourself. Get Screened Today.
HELP US REACH OUR GOAL!
donatenow.networkforgood.org/
emcorpenguinpinkhardhatribbon
On Sunday May 4th, members of Gilda’s Bike Team
made their way to the starting line of the TD Bank Five
Boro Bike Tour. They joined more than 32,000 riders to
bike 40 miles through Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens,
Brooklyn and Staten Island. The team raised over
$20,000 for Gilda’s Club and we couldn’t be more proud.
Congratulations on completing the ride and a heartfelt
thanks for your commitment to making a difference.
In New York City, the Pink Hard
Hats will have the logos of Gilda’s
Club NYC, Alexandria Real
Estate Equities, Inc., and EMCOR
Penguin. More than 700 people
from our community, employees
from EMCOR Penguin, Alexandria
Real Estate Equities, Inc. and
Gilda’s Club NYC will gather on
October 7th at the Alexandria
Center for Life Science-NYC to
form the largest Human Pink
Ribbon ever in New York City.
This campaign, which officially
launched on June 2nd, has a goal
to raise more than $100,000 for
Gilda’s Club.
Visit www.gildasclubnyc.org to
see how you can help, and to learn
more about the The EMCOR
Penguin Pink Hard Hat Event.
Gilda’s Club NYC Celebrates 19 Years!
DID YOU KNOW?
It’s hard to believe that 2014 marks
19 years since we’ve opened our
red door to provide free social and
emotional support to anyone living
with cancer…and next year will
mark our 20th Birthday!
• Gilda Radner, our namesake, passed away from ovarian cancer in 1989.
• Gene Wilder (Radner’s husband), Mandy Patinkin, Joel Siegel, Alan Zweibel, and other friends of Radner’s, founded our NYC West Village clubhouse in a beautiful old townhouse on West Houston Street.
• More than 7,500 individuals have become members of GCNYC since we first opened our iconic red door in 1995.
• There are more than 11,000 visits annually by members and individuals to our clubhouse and external sites.
• We deliver our free program offsite at our hospital partners in the
Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens.
• Educational lectures at the Clubhouse are free and open to the public.
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• We currently have 26 weekly support groups.
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Mary Elizabeth
Williams
The 7th Annual Benefit Luncheon
Celebrating Women Working & Living with Cancer
Member Speaker at the
7th Annual Benefit Luncheon
I initially got involved with Gilda’s Club for the same
reason I suspect many of us here today make most of the
decisions in our lives. I did it for my family. I had recently
been rediagnosed with cancer, and it was bad. I was stage
4, and I was about to begin a brand new clinical trial that
was likely my only hope. (Spoiler: I survived.) But cancer
doesn’t just happen to the patient. It hits all the people
close to her. And I knew that my spouse and two young
daughters needed support as much as I did.
Throughout the difficult weeks and months that followed,
Tuesdays became the most important night of the week
because on Tuesdays, we came to Gilda’s. The girls went to
Noogieland, Jeff went to the caretaker group, and I went to
my wellness group.
But in addition to the support groups, our family soon
availed ourselves of pretty much everything else Gilda’s
has to offer. I could talk all day about the services Gilda’s
… continued from page 1
and I stood at the gathering talking to our other friends,
until at a certain point I could hear laughter from the back
of the room. I looked over and I saw this boy, who had
just lost his father, playing with my girls. Like regular kids.
And in that laughter I heard love. That is what I want to
tell you that Gilda’s does.
Today, I’m very lucky
to be cancer free. But
not long ago I asked
my younger daughter,
who was 6 when I was
first diagnosed, what
she remembers about
me from before I got
cancer. And she told
me: Nothing.
“I looked over and
I saw this boy,
who had just lost
his father, playing
with my girls. Like
regular kids. And
in that laughter I
heard love.”
To be honest, sometimes I don’t remember who I was
before cancer either. It’s intense to know that your child’s
entire understanding of her mother, and by extension
her childhood, will always be filtered through the lens of
the disease that almost killed you. What makes it okay is
Gilda’s Club. Because our family’s experience of cancer will
always also be about the friends we made. The lessons we
learned. And all the new memories we made.
provides to its members -- the lectures and the classes
and family movie night and Camp Sparkle, a free day
camp services for children whose families are affected by
cancer. I could talk about how I fundraised and trained
with Gilda’s marathon team while I was in treatment, and
how meaningful it was to feel like not just a patient, but an
athlete. But mostly I want to tell you about one night.
When you’re in a cancer community, sometimes you have
loss. On this night, we had gone to pay our respects to a
friend. His wife had been in the caretaker group with Jeff,
and his son had been in Noogieland with my kids. Jeff
Cancer can be a pretty chaotic situation, and it’s hard not
to feel helpless. But whether we’re young or old, well or
unwell, there’s always something we have control over, and
it turns out it’s one of the most important things of all. It’s
how we choose to love each other. I know this, because
I’ve experienced it here. For all that cancer took away from
my family and me, there’s so much we’ve been given. For
all we can’t remember, there’s so much we’ll never forget.
So I’d like to say thank you today to Gilda’s Club. And
thank you to all of you for supporting it,
and families like mine.
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Door Award and Fran Heller,
Senior Vice President, Business
Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb
received the Gilda Award.
on page 4). Both had incredibly
touching stories which preceded the
paddle raise, making this event the
most successful luncheon ever.
ABC News Anchor and breast
cancer survivor Amy Robach was
the guest speaker and host. Ms.
Robach shared her own cancer
journey with the guests as did
Gilda’s Club member
Mary Elizabeth Williams
(read Mary Elizabeth’s speech
“We are thrilled to have such
an amazing guest speaker and
distinguished honorees at our
benefit luncheon. These women
have made significant contributions
in their respective fields that have
helped to improve the quality of life
for cancer patients.
At Gilda’s Club, our focus is on
providing a comprehensive cancer
support program to anyone living
with cancer – men, women,
children and teens – 100% free of
charge,” states Lily Safani, CEO of
GCNYC.
We are very grateful for the support
of our sponsors and donors who
believe in our mission that no one
should face cancer alone.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
Platinum Benefactors
Red Door Benefactors
“It’s Always Something” Benefactor
Goddard Family Foundation
Roseanne Roseannadanna Patron
Jami Rubin
Goldman Sachs
Lisa Loopner Patrons
Argot Partners • Covington & Burling LLP
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. • Joan & Bob Easton
Faber Daeufer & Itrato PC • Forest City Enterprises
KPMG LLP • Lazard • William S. Slattery
Esta Eiger Stecher • WilmerHale
In-Kind Donors
Alex Anthony Salon • Aveda • Belle Fleur New
York • Blue Ribbon Bakery Kitchen • Candle 79
Carbone • City Winery • Crazy Sexy Wellness,
LLC • Dirt Candy • Echo Design • Mike Fine
Forbidden Broadway NYC • Grand Life Hotels
Great Performances • Hard Rock Café Times
Square • Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee
Joanna Vargas Salon • Kimara Ahnert
KPMG LLP • La Roche-Posay • Jeffrey Lenobel
Loews Hotels • Molton Brown • Mona Smith
Jewelry • Silvana Palazzolo • Penguin Air • Pera
Physical Equilibrium • Reebok Sports Club/NY
Revlon • Damon Risucci • Satya Jewelry
Stand Up NY • The Clam • Tumbador Chocolate
More photos on our Facebook page!
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