Free-PINK SUMMIT: Understanding, Tackling, and Surviving Breast

The Greater Hudson Valley (GHV) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated is launching its inaugural PINK SUMMIT event as part of its overarching “Bosom Besties” health initiative. This initiative focuses on women’s health, impacted by breast cancer from the perspective of survivors, friends and families, as well as community advocates impacted by breast cancer. The PINK SUMMIT is free to all and will be held April 30, 2016 from 1pm to 4pm at the Rotunda at Mercy College, located at 555 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, New York.

The PINK SUMMIT will include speakers and panel participants with expertise in medicine, research, breast cancer support, and breast cancer survival. The first panel features experts in the field of breast cancer, while the second panel is comprised of breast cancer survivors. The program’s distinguished panelists includes:

First Panel: Breast Cancer: Understanding the Science & Tackling the Unknown:
• Moderator, Kimberly Newman-McCown (Research Scientist, VWR International),
• Dr. Diana Lake (Medical Oncologist, Sloan Kettering),
• Dr. Monica Foreman-Hyacinthe (OB/GYN Montefiore Medical Center),
• Dr. Elisa Port (Chief of Breast Surgery & Director of the Dublin Breast Center, Mount Sinai Hospital)

Second Panel: Breast Cancer: Living Beyond Diagnosis & Treatment
• Moderator: Renee V. H. Simons (Retired Business Exec & Adjunct Prof.)
• Sandra Fuller (Patient Care Director, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center)
• Yulinda Lewis-Kelly (Clinical Research Coordinator at Mount Sinai/First Lady Miracle Temple Church of God in Christ)
• Yvonne Singleton Davis (President & CEO of Sister to Sister: One in the Spirit, Inc.)

This free event provides a terrific opportunity for attendees to learn more about breast cancer and to ask questions of experts. We hope to not only provide information to patients and survivors, but also information to those who want to support friends and family and want to learn how to prevent or thwart breast cancer.

“Clearly, there is much discussion and awareness of the importance of early detection, but we also know that despite this awareness, early detection and patient support options are woefully wanton and can improve significantly. We are confident that we can help fill some of the information and support gaps within our communities through this health initiative,” noted Karla Jones Penn, President of Greater Hudson Valley Chapter.

The GHV would like to provide more access to information and expertise to women in our four service areas: Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, and Dutchess counties. The PINK SUMMIT will be a leading forum for women to engage in dialogue, gather information, and share experiences.

Longer term, GHV intends to reach out to breast cancer patients and provide friendship and support in the areas of facilitating treatment, support, and access to information.

About The Greater Hudson Valley Chapter (NY), The Links, Incorporated
The Greater Hudson Valley Chapter, chartered in 1990, focuses its primary services within four counties (Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Dutchess) in New York’s mid-Hudson Valley region. The group has sponsored student scholarships, arts projects with middle school students, mentoring programs within New Rochelle High School and local school renovations, drinking water, and classroom support (books, desks, supplies) in South Africa. Consistent with efforts of the national organization, The Links, Incorporated, the Greater Hudson Valley chapter has five focus areas -- The Arts; International Trends; National Trends and Services; Services to Youth; and Health and Wellness. For more information regarding The Greater Hudson Valley Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, visit our Chapter Website at www.ghvnylinksinc.org

About the Links, Incorporated
Established in 1946 by a circle of nine friends in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Links, Incorporated is a premier international, non-profit volunteer service organization. Built upon a legacy of friends and providing service that changes lives, the organization is committed enriching, sustaining and ensuring the cultural and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. Celebrating 69 years, the friendship chain has grown to nearly 14,000 professional women of color in 281 chapters located in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, its legacy of friends providing service that changes lives, established by the original circle of nine friends in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1946, is alive and well. Dedicated to its mission of service and leadership, The Links, Incorporated’s members are corporate and civic leaders; lawmakers and judiciary; medical and healthcare providers; role models, mentors, activists and volunteers working tirelessly at the forefront of transforming communities of color. Working closely with sponsors, partners and supporters, The Links, Incorporated develops and implements transformational programming impacting lives in communities of color. The key programming initiatives of The Links, Incorporated are organized into facets: Services to Youth, The Arts, National Trends and Services, International Trends and Services, and Health and Human Services. Amassing more than 5 million service hours to date, The Links, Incorporated’s members regularly contribute more than 500,000 documented service hours in their respective communities through various programs. The Links Foundation, Incorporated, the philanthropic arm of The Links, Incorporated established in 1979, has made more than $25 million in charitable contributions. The organization is the recipient of awards from the UN Association of New York and the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation for its premier programs. The Links, Incorporated: “Linked in Friendship, Connected in Service.” For more information, visit http://www.linksinc.org