CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY BENJAMIN CENTER HONORS TIG NOTARO, YAS FITNESS CENTERS' KIMBERLY FOWLER & SHERRI ROSEN AND DR. MITCH GOLANT AT ANNUAL GILDA AWARD GALA

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 14, 2015) – Cancer Support Community Benjamin Center (CSC) presented its annual Gilda Award Gala, tonight, Thursday, May 14, 2015 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Century City. The evening of humor, fun and celebration honored Tig Notaro, Grammy Award-nominated comedian, writer and breast cancer survivor with the “Gilda Award;” YAS Fitness Centers’ Founder Kimberly Fowler and Vice President Sherri Rosen, with the “Wellness Award” and Dr. Mitch Golant, national psychosocial cancer research pioneer, with the “Harold H. Benjamin Innovation Award.” NBC4 Weathercaster Fritz Coleman hosted; actress/comedian Sarah Silverman was special guest presenter. Pat Kennedy, chaired.

Kennedy, Chairman of the CSC Board of Directors; Ann Benjamin, Vice Chair and daughter of the organization’s founders, the late Harold and Harriet Benjamin and Julia Forth, Executive Director, welcomed the more than 250 guests, noting that nearly 1,800 individuals had walked through the Center’s doors in the past year, visiting CSC over 18,000 times. “The spirit of our mission,” said Forth “is that no one should face cancer alone. CSC is here to ensure that all people impacted by cancer are empowered by knowledge, strengthened by action and sustained by community.”

A highlight of the evening was a moving tribute to CSC by Lee Tomlinson who described his own battle with cancer and how “The Cancer Support Community saved my life…not figuratively, not metaphorically, but literally.”

NBC-TV’s popular weathercaster, Fritz Coleman hosted the evening, lauding CSC as “the gold standard of psychosocial support for cancer patients and their families throughout the world.” He went on to introduce Dr. Deane Wolcott, Director of Oncology Supportive Care Services with Cedars-Sinai’s Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute who presented the inaugural “Harold H. Benjamin Innovation Award” to Mitch Golant, PhD. Dr. Golant is a health psychologist and currently Senior Consultant, Strategic Initiatives for the Cancer Support Community (CSC). HIs work with the CSC Research & Training Institute in Philadelphia and CSC headquarters in Washington D.C. created a shift in the culture towards addressing patients’ and families’ psychosocial needs. He has traveled throughout the world introducing CSC’s Patient Empowerment Model to international thought-leaders and psychosocial oncologists. Dr. Golant has been with CSC for over 28 years and has facilitated over 6,000 support groups for people with cancer and has trained over 400 professionals in CSC’s Patient Active Support model. He is a CSC Professional Advisory Board member. Dr. Golant is the co-author of seven books and is a contributing editor to the Essentials of Psychosocial Oncology Handbook and The Psychiatric and Psychological Dimensions of Pediatric Cancer Symptom Management. CSC is celebrating his work with Dr. Benjamin in elevating the role of psychosocial support worldwide.

Ann Benjamin, Vice Chair and CSC founder’s daughter, presented the inaugural “Wellness Award” to YAS Fitness Centers’ founder Kimberly Fowler and Vice President Sherri Rosen. A hybrid fitness movement combining Yoga and indoor cycling, YAS is for people who value their health, fitness and time. “The Godmother of the Hybrid Movement,” Kimberly Fowler is an author, philanthropist, feminist, athlete, speaker and cancer survivor. Since opening the YAS Fitness Center in Venice, CA in 2001, Fowler has regularly shaken up the yoga and fitness worlds with her fresh, no-nonsense workouts designed for everyone. Sherri Rosen, Vice President of YAS Fitness Centers, has been with the organization since its inception. Rosen currently oversees all aspects of YAS’s operations including: five YAS Fitness Center locations, teachers training, YAS Production (YAS DVDs), YAS Wear, website and social media and fundraising (YAS Gives Back). YAS has raised nearly $2 million for a variety of organizations focusing on cancer research. The fitness company is being celebrated for its positive influence on the community by promoting wellness and a culture and spirit of generosity.

Past “Gilda Award” recipient and CSC member Jack Herrguth introduced two-time Emmy Award winner Sarah Silverman who presented the 2015 “Gilda Award” to Grammy Award-nominated comedian, writer and breast cancer survivor Tig Notaro. Notaro was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2014 for her sophomore release LIVE. She starred in Knock Knock, It’s Tig Notaro which recently aired on Showtime. She is also the subject and executive producer of a documentary about her life, entitled Tig, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Other recent film and television credits include Walk of Shame, In a World, ABC’s Suburgatory and IFC’s Maron and Garfunkel and Oates. Notaro hosts her own weekly podcast, Professor Blastoff, which ranks regularly in the top iTunes charts. The “Gilda Award” is presented to a person that represents late comedian Gilda Radner’s courageous spirit, one that continues to inspire cancer patients today. Gilda Radner came to CSC (then known as The Wellness Community) in 1986 during her battle with ovarian cancer.

About the Cancer Support Community Benjamin Center

In 2009, The Wellness Community and Gilda’s Club joined forces to become the Cancer Support Community. The combined organization provides the highest quality social and emotional support for people impacted by cancer through a network of 50 licensed affiliates, more than 120 satellite locations and vibrant online and telephone communities, touching more than one million people each year. Cancer Support Community Benjamin Center was founded in 1982 in Santa Monica by Dr. Harold and Harriet Benjamin. Cancer Support Community Benjamin Center offers 100% free invaluable emotional and psychological support and related, healthy life-style services. For more information, please visit www.cancersupportcommunitybenjamincenter.org.

# # #

Contact: Pam Giangregorio

Katy Sweet & Associates Public Relations

(310) 479-2333 / Pam@KatySweetPR.com