62nd Precinct Council to raise money for breast cancer research

BENSONHURST – October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and members of the 62nd Precinct Community Council are determined to bring the message closer to home by holding a breakfast event to raise money for research into a cure.

The community council will host a Pink Breakfast on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at the Bensonhurst Center for Rehabilitation and Health Care, 1740 84th St., from 10 a.m. to noon. The center is sponsoring the event.

It’s no accident that the event is called a Pink Breakfast. The color pink has become associated with the effort to raise awareness of the impact of breast cancer. During the month of October, it is common to see women wearing pink ribbons in solidarity with cancer patients.

“Breast cancer is a devastating thing to go through for the patients and their families. If we can help a little bit by raising money, that would be great,” said community council member Sonia Valentin, who is organizing the breakfast fundraiser with Denise Daniello.

The community council has held breast cancer fundraisers each year for the past few years. “So far, we have raised over $1,000,” Valentin said.

All of the funds raised will be donated to the American Cancer Society, according to Valentin. 

“We will ask them to put it specifically toward breast cancer research,” she told the Home Reporter.

“And I think it’s important to remember that men can get breast cancer, too,” Valentin added.

The statistics on breast cancer in the U.S. are sobering.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women and it is the leading cause of death in Hispanic women, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2016, the most recent year for which figures are available, 245,299 new cases of breast cancer in women were diagnosed in the U.S. and 41,487 patients died.

In New York State, 16,057 new cases of breast cancer were reported in 2016.

For more information on the community council’s Pink Breakfast, email: pct62ndcc@aol.com.

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