High Tea Celebration Begins Breast Cancer Awareness Month

WILTON — The American Cancer Society is kicking off Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a celebratory High Tea on Monday, October 2, from 4 to 7 pm. The tea will be held at the American Cancer Society’s Southwestern Connecticut office at 372 Danbury Road in Wilton.

A pianist will perform and light sandwiches will be served.

Breast cancer survivor and health practitioner Judy Milinowski will be conducting a relaxation exercise at the event. According to Ms Milinowski, “The High Tea is very important for breast cancer survivors; not only to celebrate their triumph over the disease, but also to recognize the progress that’s been made. Thanks in part to the American Cancer Society, we have more options today in terms of treatment, and more services are available than ever before. Consequently, the quality of life has become so much better for breast cancer patients and survivors.”

The High Tea will also help to build momentum for the Society’s annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event. Attendees and breast cancer survivors from all over Southwestern Connecticut are rallying their families and friends to join them in the five mile walk which will take place at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport on Sunday, October 15.

Upwards of 5,000 people are expected to make strides to help raise funds and awareness in the fight against breast cancer. Flagship sponsors Grolier Corporation and Praxair in Danbury, and Peppers and Rodgers in Stamford will mobilize hundreds of employees and their families to participate. Many will walk to honor someone who has the disease or has succumbed to it.

Strides Recruitment Manager Diane Sheridan said, “It is amazing to see the amount of support that is coming from all corners of Fairfield County. Making Strides has become a conduit to mobilize the public and private sectors.”

Many companies have assembled large teams, including Avance Esthetiques Day Spa in Newtown, General Electric in Fairfield, Bridgeport, and Stamford, Scholastic Book Fair in Monroe, Oxford Health Plans in Norwalk, and Warburg & Dillon in Stamford. Local hospitals like Norwalk’s Whittingham Cancer Center will also lend their support.

Students and teachers from local schools and colleges such as Fairfield University will congregate, in addition to community service organizations and many families and friends.

Proceeds from the Westport event will be designated to the American Cancer Society’s programs of breast cancer research, education, and support that prove to be invaluable for local cancer patients and their families. American Cancer Society programs include Look Good, Feel Better, Tell-a-Friend, Reach to Recovery, and Road to Recovery, among others.

In this year alone, 182,800 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. In Connecticut, an estimated 2,300 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed; another 500 women are expected to die from the disease. If treated early, breast cancer is 96 percent curable. The American Cancer Society’s 800/ACS-2345 and www.cancer.org Web site offer support and information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Progress is being made, as breast cancer mortality rates have decreased 25 percent since 1990. The American Cancer Society has awarded more than $124 million in breast cancer research since 1972, including the recent discoveries of tomoxifen and herceptin. Early detection guidelines and education programs have increased the breast cancer survival rate. An estimated 1.6 million breast cancer survivors are living in the United States today.

For more information about breast cancer, the High Tea, or how to walk or volunteer for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, call the American Cancer Society at 800/889-3340.