Maple Pointe bowls for breast cancer

Maple Pointe Assisted Living will be holding its annual Bowling For Breasts fundraiser on Oct. 24, continuing its month-long mission to raise money for the South Nassau Communities Hospital breast cancer program.

For the past five years, Maple Pointe has dedicated October — which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month — to raising money to help combat the disease. Thousands of women in New York are diagnosed with breast cancer every year.

“To date, we’ve raised more than $30,000 for breast cancer research,” said Tammy Marshall, the executive director of Maple Pointe. “Hopefully we’ll get over $35,000 this year.”

In addition to the bowling fundraiser, Maple Pointe held its annual “Eat a Wing, Save a Breast” fundraiser on Oct. 2. Restaurants from all over Rockville Centre came together to compete for the title of Best Wings in the town. Chadwicks and MacArthur Park tied for the honor. The evening raised more than $4,000.

The next fundraiser, “Bowling for Breasts,” will be held at RVC Lanes (located at 100 Maple Ave.) on Oct. 24 at noon. The price is $500 per team of five bowlers or $100 for individuals. The price includes three hours of bowling, an open bar, food and, of course, fun.

“People enjoy it. It’s fun,” Marshall said. “The bowling alley has been wonderful. It’s a way to have fun for a great cause.”

All of the money raised (Marshall hopes to top the $13,000 they raised last year) goes to the breast cancer program at the South Nassau Communities Hospital Cancer Center in Valley Stream. It helps the hospital fund services that it provides for cancer patients, like the Patient Navigator, which helps patients keep track of things starting with their first visit, keeps them in touch with doctors and helps them schedule follow-up appointments.

“We appreciate all that they do,” said Tim Metejka, senior director of development for SNCH. “It’s really nice when an organization can support the activity of the hospital and raise money and awareness for our services here.”

Marshall said that she chose to raise money for South Nassau because its local, and breast cancer research is something that she and her staff are passionate about.

“They do a wonderful job [at South Nassau],” she said. “It’s near and dear to our hearts, and they’ve been very good to us.”