Annual Pink Ball honors cancer survivors, supporters

Participants enjoy the 2014 To Life! Pink Ball.

Breast cancer survivors and the community dedicated to helping them will be celebrated Oct. 23 at To Life!’s 11th Annual Pink Ball.

The black tie event, which will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Hall of Springs, will feature hors d’oeuvres, dinner, dancing, a live auction and a silent auction.

Honored at the event will be Lisa Morahan, founder of floydwarriors.com, a Malta-based organization that helps cancer patients with household tasks.

“She was a young cancer-diagnosed individual who saw that when you’re dealing with issues related to treatment you often are fatigued, you oftentimes have gone through surgery and are, on an ongoing basis, having to balance everything, and it’s hard to do that,” said Eileen Bird, executive director of To Life! “She’s certainly been an inspiration to others and so many people have been helped through her program to make their life a little easier as they go through through their own personalized cancer journey.”

The Pink Ball is a fundraiser for To Life!, an organization that provides free community education programs on breast cancer detection, treatments and related health matters, as well as outreach services for cancer survivors and their families, friends and caregivers.

“Breast cancer is a very personal diagnosis, so individuals that are going through a breast cancer diagnosis oftentimes have a number of choices they have to make in relationship to their treatment and so you want them to be able to make choices from a position of education and knowledge, and work with their healthcare provider,” Bird said.

To Life! also has a mastectomy boutique that provides bras and prostheses to women with a breast cancer diagnosis and a boutique that provides wigs, hats and scarves to anyone with any type of cancer.

The organization has a mission to be accessible and to provide personal service, Bird said.

Ticket for the Pink Ball are $200 per person or $350 per couple. They can be obtained by calling 439-5975 or can be purchased online at www.tolife.org.

Corporate sponsors for the ball include Vincent and Patty Riggi, Michele and Ron Riggi, Destination Kia, Saratoga Casino and Raceway, Ellis Medicine, Mazzone Hospitality, PJ Green, DZ Restaurants, Kirchhoff-Consigli Construction Management, Saratoga Hospital, Fingerpaint Marketing, Kimberly Smith Graphic Design and Stewart’s Shops.