A Fairfield County CEO and his wife hate breast cancer with a $500,000 passion. If that weren”™t enough, they”™ve vowed to up their donation to $1 million and have enlisted a tony shoe company and a cast of a thousand in the fight.
Robert G. Burton Sr., chairman and CEO of Stamford-based, publicly traded Cenveo Inc., and his wife Paula, acting through the Robert G. Burton Charitable Foundation, have donated $500,000 toward a pledged $1 million to the Greenwich-based Breast Cancer Alliance (BCA).
The couple is enlisting those similarly moved to fight breast cancer to a lunchtime fundraiser and Mitchells of Westport fashion show featuring cancer survivors Thursday, Nov. 7, at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich, 1800 E. Putnam Ave., Old Greenwich. Tickets are $350-$1,000 and tables are $5,000-$50,000; 1,000 guests are expected.
A silent auction begins at 11 a.m. and closes with a post-event Manolo Blahnik trunk show and tea at 2 p.m. The featured guest speaker is Pat Battle, anchor/reporter for NBC TV and breast cancer survivor.
Manolo Blahnik has created two shoes for the Breast Cancer Alliance, including a dedication to the BCA on the sole, to be sold exclusively at Richards in Greenwich; 20 percent of proceeds will benefit the BCA.
Private donors such as the Burtons “have made a real difference with their significant giving,” said Yonni Wattenmaker, BCA executive director. “With government funding at an all-time low with regard to health care, it is private donors who will truly be responsible for funding innovations in research, training breast surgeons, and providing the screening and diagnostic support for uninsured women.
This is the BCA”™s 18th annual fashion show/luncheon. In the past it has raised more than $1 million from the 900-plus attendees each year.
A close friend of Paula Burton”™s was diagnosed with fourth-stage breast cancer and succumbed to the disease, spurring the Burtons”™ involvement. But equally important, according to the couple, was the impact on Robert Burton when he sat in on a session with 150 breast cancer survivors. “The energy and attention of these focused survivors was electric,” he said.
The electricity in the room convinced him there would be a cure in the near future. The funds from their donation are targeted for breast health through education and outreach programs, including free screening mammography programs for underserved and uninsured women.
BCA provides seed money to fund innovative breast cancer research with an emphasis on programs that have not yet qualified for federal grants and provides the critical bridge between novel research and substantiated project research prior to federal funding.
Founded in 1996 by breast cancer survivors and their friends, BCA is one of the largest private, non-corporate breast cancer organizations in the U.S. Its mission is “to improve survival rates and quality of life for those impacted by breast cancer through better prevention, early detection, treatment and cure.” It supports breast surgical fellowships and promoting breast health through education and outreach programs, including free screening mammography programs for underserved and uninsured women.
Recipients of BCA”™s awards have participated in work at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University, Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University, Princeton University, Rockefeller University, the University of Pennsylvania and Weill Cornell Medical College.
For information about luncheon tickets or to reserve raffle tickets and parking updates, email info@breastcanceralliance.org or call 861-0014.
