The Power of Pink Luncheon took place on Tuesday, October 12 in Roanoke. The inaugural event was a huge success raising funds and awareness for the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation. The Power of Pink Luncheon was sponsored by Kroger, WSLS10, Berglund Cars, Blue Ridge Cancer Care, Boxley, and Fink’s Jewelers. We are so appreciative of all of our wonderful sponsors.
The event was a hybrid one – a “luncheon in a box” was provided to the attendees, and they streamed the program from the comfort of their home or office. The Luncheon was chaired by Julie Boxley, Kelly Farber, Janet Frantz, Justine Jones, Anne Blair Miller, and Ellie Proctor.
The event featured two incredible speakers. First was our local speaker, Mary Frantz who grew up in Roanoke. She lost her grandmother to breast cancer and her mother is a survivor. Mary is a breast cancer previvor which is someone who has an elevated predisposition of being diagnosed with cancer due to genetic risk. She shared her breast cancer journey of getting a prophylactic double mastectomy at the age of 28.
Our keynote speaker was New York Times Best Selling Author, Elin Hilderbrand. Elin was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 and has since had a double mastectomy and has become a breast cancer advocate. She said, “I’m addressing crowds of women all the time. I didn’t feel like I could be going through treatment and not say anything. The demographic of women who are affected with breast cancer and the women who are my readers is the exactly same, so in so many ways, I’m the perfect person to do it.” Elin shared her path to becoming a best-selling author and her breast cancer journey.
During the event, VBCF announced plans to create a screening and diagnostic service fund to support breast cancer testing for uninsured and underinsured Virginians in Southwest Virginia. The proceeds raised from the Power of Pink Luncheon will go directly to this fund. More information to come in 2022.
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