by intern Haley Schiffer
Photo credit: Nicole Nicholas
Family is the most cherished aspect of society. Nancy Goodman Brinker emphasized this idea when she founded The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation in honor of her sister Susan who was 33 when she found out she had breast cancer.
Ambassador Nancy Brinker with son Eric Brinker
“Growing up, Suzy and I were just about as close as two sisters can get. Suzy was the perfect older sister. She was beautiful and kind and loving, not only to me but to everyone. She was the star of our hometown of Peoria, Illinois—the high school homecoming queen, the college beauty queen,” says Brinker.
T.H. Ray LaHood, Judy Salerno and WJLA’s Rebecca Cooper
Former Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood made an appearance at The Kennedy Center Gala as he annually does to support the next steps towards a cure for breast cancer. “I’ve been involved in The Komen Foundation for a couple of decades,” said LaHood. “Suzy Komen was from my hometown and I participated in many events for The Komen foundation in central Illinois.”
LaHood’s personal experience with breast cancer doesn’t end there: “Well, my mother had breast cancer but she had it way before anybody was even talking about breast cancer or a cure, way before The Komen Foundation was ever established. Every family in America is touched by breast cancer, every family knows a cousin, an aunt, an uncle, a mother, a father, or a sister who was touched by breast cancer and that’s why the work of Komen is so important. “ LaHood later described the journey as “a labor of love,” growing from their hometown to a national phenomena.
Fran Drescher
Fran Drescher, the most popular Nanny and divorcé on TV, had her own personal struggle with uterine cancer. She became involved because of her 13 years well, including a book called Cancer Schmancer, which became a New York Times best seller. Drescher recently started her own organization called the Cancer Schmancer Movement and described the experience as “once you’re in that health space, you start forging alliances with other NGOs that are like-minded to you,” she said. When asked about future TV appearances Drescher responded, “I’m working on some things that are very big, but I’m not ready to tell it to anyone yet – but it’s all exciting stuff. I always have something rolled up my sleeve and I have happily divorced in turn around so I might end up finding it a home somewhere else”.
Julia Murney had her cancer-supporting debut Friday night at The Kennedy Center when she sang her famous lines, “because I knew you.” from Broadway’s phenomenon Wicked. “My paternal grandmother had breast cancer,” Murney said when asked how she started to become involved in the cancer world.
Zoraida Sambolin
Zoraida Sambolin, co-anchor of CNN’s morning show Early Start with John Berman, had her “maiden voyage” for supporting The Komen Foundation after she interviewed Nancy Brinker on her show. When asked about becoming public with her breast cancer she responded that she “didn’t know how I was going to do it, so I need to thank Angelina Jolie for sharing her story because it helped give me a voice,” Sambolin exclaimed, “I’m a Latina so I needed some answers and as I was asking Nancy; well, how do you serve this community and inform (them) that breast cancer even at an early stage is so aggressive? Well, that’s our job; this is what we do and this is why we raise the money for research,” explaining how she became so passionate about the topic. From starting off scared and fearing “as a journalist you never want to be the story” to embracing her medical state, Sambolin was able to shine and host The Honoring the Promise Ceremony.
Kool and the Gang, most known for their hits Celebration and Ladies Night, have another personal connection with cancer. One of the member’s wives happen to be a colan cancer survivor but is doing really well. Although this is their first time experience with The Komen Foundation, they’ve been involved with many other fundraisers supporting cancer research. When asked about a song coming out relating back to cancer they replied, “We’re working on it” and “we’ll see in the near future.”
The Swon Brothers
The Swon brothers, who are recent finalists from “The Voice,” made their first trip to DC to perform at the Komen event. Colton Swon showed up dressed to impress with fun cowboy boots and southern style. The two brothers became involved when someone reached out to their publicist and then they exclaimed their excitement to be a part of the foundation. Although neither of the brothers have been personally effected by cancer they explained, “breast cancer has become a normal thing so when we got the invitation for it we knew it was something we should put our stamp on and we were honored that they wanted us to be here.” With their first record deal in place, they responded “who knows, we’re in the writing process right now.” when asked what we might see in the future for their music.
Josh Morgan
Josh Morgan is the starting wide receiver for the Washington Redskins and DC area spokesman for The Komen Foundation. Morgan came dressed in style with shoes that you could see shinning from the very back of the theater. Morgan started his major involvement when his godmother was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. Balancing the life of a football star and spokesman he describes as an “easy balance” after he got the hang of it but still “a blessing.”
