Photos: Rockville Centre Breast Cancer Coalition Fashion show raises nearly $70,000 in one night

More than 400 people filled the illustrious Garden City Hotel on Friday, Oct. 27, for the Rockville Centre Breast Cancer Coalition’s fourth annual fashion show.

Tickets were sold out weeks in advance for the highly anticipated event as people gathered from all across Long Island for an evening of food, fun and fashions, all of which were provided courtesy of Bloomingdales.

“The event was amazing,” Erin O’Sullivan, co-president of the RVC Breast Cancer Coalition, said. “We had 20 models walking on the runway that were all survivors.”

O’Sullivan said the event raised nearly $70,000 for the nonprofit organization that was created almost seven years ago to provide support services and education to those in the community who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

All of the proceeds raised by the organization go towards research, helping women with treatment, and helping them through their cancer journey.

Thanks to the generous contributions made by different benefactors in the communities over the past seven years, the Coalition has pledged to donate $45,000 over the next three years to support Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital’s “Cold Cap” program, which provides scalp-cooling therapy to help reduce hair lose during chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer and alleviate the negative influence it can have on patients emotions and outlook.

“It was an overwhelming success,” Rockville Centre Deputy Mayor Kathy Baxley, a two-time cancer survivor and Breast Cancer Coalition board member, said. “It was a great place to be to celebrate the Coalition and all the women that we’ve helped over the past almost seven years.”

In the past seven years since the Breast Cancer Coalition was founded, the care counselor program has helped numerous women get through breast cancer surgery and treatments.

This year’s honoree, Sue Leach, is a breast cancer survivor and a long time care counselor with the Coalition. As a care counselor, Leach has been providing confidential advice and emotional support to many women struggling to cope with the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

Following presentations from Coalition leaders and the event honoree, it was finally time for the 20 Breast Cancer Coalition models to hit the runway, dressed in their high fashion from Bloomingdales.

Baxley said that the models seemed a bit nervous at first, but once they heard the excitement of the crowd, they were ready to hit the runway.

“The crowd really made it the huge success that it was,” she said. “Their energy, their enthusiasm and their support for all that we do.”

While the fashion show was an incredible way to cap off Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October, the fight against Breast Cancer continues for the Coalition all year round. To learn more about the ways you can help the Rockville Centre Breast Cancer Coalition, visit RVCBCC.org.