Friends Ready To 'Rally For Alli" At Breast Cancer Benefit

EAST HAMPTON — The Bennett family of East Hampton were dealt the most painful of blows when their daughter Allison was diagnosed with breast cancer — their second daughter in less than five years to receive the news.

Duchemin was diagnosed on August 26, according to a Facebook post about a fundraiser being planned to help meet costs.

The "Let's Rally for Alli: Breast Cancer Benefit" will take place on March 24 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Stephen Talkhouse; the event will include live music from Little Head Thinks and The Dog Watchers, raffles, food and more.

"Allison's sister, Cheryl, was diagnosed with the same form of breast cancer slightly over four years prior; her official diagnosis is HER - 2 positive invasive ductal carcinoma," the post said.

Treatment so far has consisted of traveling to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center once a week for the past five months for chemotherapy treatment; she will continue to go every three weeks for the next year for estrogen therapy. Her first surgery, the post explains, was on February 20 at Memorial Sloan Kettering, where she had to undergo a double mastectomy.

"Allison is a hardworking individual for the Town of East Hampton and will now be out of work for four weeks. Following surgery, she will have five to six weeks of radiation five days a week; Finally, in four to five months she will have reconstruction surgery, requiring a five night hospital stay and six weeks out of work," the post said.

"One could only imagine the travel expenses and financial burden this has on a family; this has been a long road for Allison, her boyfriend Walter, and her three children, Sean, Riley, and Taylor, and it is not over yet. Anything our wonderful community could do to lighten the burden would be more than appreciated," the post said.

Anita Boyer spoke about her friend's battle.

The fundraiser, she said, is critically important. "Allison never asks for help; she still hasn't. She is the first one there to donate her time and money whenever her friends are in need. She's been unbelievably positive and inspiring during her battle, so much so that I think many people take for granted how hard it's actually been. So I'm so grateful to her boyfriend Walter and her sisters for coordinating this event so we can all give back to our Allie."