October is breast cancer awareness month, but one local, all-volunteer group is dedicated to raising breast cancer awareness all year long among North Fork residents — and to helping local residents who are coping with the disease.
The North Fork Breast Health Coalition serves breast cancer patients across the North Fork with gentle yoga classes, reflexology, massage therapy and support groups. It also runs the “Lend a Helping Hand” program, which provides grants to patients on the North Fork who are being treated for breast cancer.
The all-volunteer organization’s mission is to encourage and assist in the prevention, early intervention, and cure of breast cancer through advocacy, awareness, networking, and research.
“The funds we raise go directly to programs such as our ‘Lend a Helping Hand’ program, which provides 20 to 30 grants annually to patients on the North Fork who are being treated for breast cancer,” said vice president Melanie McEvoy. The grants, up to $1,000 apiece, provide assistance with travel costs, housecleaning, meal preparation, etc.
The organization works to let people know about breast cancer screening services available locally, including free mammograms from Cancer Services in Riverhead (631-548-6320).
If you’d like to do something to help people in this community cope with the disease, here are some events taking place this month that benefit the North Fork Breast Health Coalition.
On Friday, North Fork Breast Health Coalition members will host a “selfie booth” near Mattituck Florist for the First Friday event on Love Lane, which is all decked out in pink ribbons this month.
Next weekend, the coalition will be one of three beneficiaries of the Shelter Island 5K fall run/walk, sharing the proceeds of the 5K race with the Coalition for Women’s Cancers at Southampton Hospital and Lucia’s Angels. Click here for more information and to register for the run/walk.
A month-long breast cancer awareness campaign is underway at Apple Honda in Riverhead. Apple Honda will donate $50 to the North Fork Breast Health Coalition for each new car sold this month and $50 per repair order at the dealership’s service center, general manager Bill Fields said.
This is the fourth annual October campaign at the Honda dealership, which has raised about $21,000 for the local breast cancer group, said company controller Dawn Vogel.
Apple Honda also participates each year in the 5K walk held at Tanger Outlets to raise money for the coalition, Vogel said. The 18th annual 5K was held on Sunday, Sept. 25 and drew more than 300 participants.
The North Fork Breast Health Coalition was founded in 1998 by the late Antonio DeGrasse and his wife, Ann Cotten-DeGrasse, after she “had a scare twice” with exams that required her to get biopsies, Cotten-DeGrasse said today. It came to their attention that there was nothing like the South Fork Breast Health Coalition on the North Fork, to provide local services to local residents.
Antonio DeGrasse recruited several Riverhead Rotary Club members to get the group off the ground, his wife said. Crucial to the effort was Tanger Outlets general manager Janine Nebons, who had the idea for the 5K walk and a month-long promotion at the outlet center, Cotten-DeGrasse said. The Rotary Club donated funding and members volunteered their services to get the organization established.
Cotten-DeGrasse served the organization as its president for many years after its founding. She will be honored by the group with its Pink Pearl Community Service Award at its Pink Pearl Gala next spring at East Wind. Apple Honda owner Irwin Garsten and his wife Flora will also be honored with the Ponk Pearl Spirit Award. The gala is set for Friday, April 7, 2017.
