The Cancer Concern Center 13th Annual Dinner Dance Fundraiser
The Cancer Concern Center is a small non-profit organization that draws cancer survivors from Southern Monmouth and Northern Ocean Counties to its comfortable home in Point Pleasant Beach.
Despite operating on a shoestring budget with a volunteer staff, the Cancer Concern Center offers free programs to local cancer survivors.
On May 22, the Cancer Concern Center will host its largest fundraiser of the year a Dinner Dance in honor of its grassroots supporters.
Nestled along Route 35 South, the Cancer Concern Center provides weekly support meetings, meditation and yoga classes, massage and Reiki therapy, nutritional workshops, and new wigs to local residents regardless of their ability to pay. Far from an affluent organization, the Cancer Concern Center has no paid staff and minimal overhead preferring to funnel donations into client programs instead of administration.
Point Pleasant Beach resident Lisa Montalbano runs the Cancer Concern Center as a volunteer office manager. She explains, “Everything we do at the Cancer Concern Center revolves around the women and men who have the courage to walk through our front door. We don’t charge any mandatory fees. We add programs, as our budget allows, to serve more of our neighbors who are struggling with cancer and the economy at the same time.”
Montalbano says the Dinner Dance fundraiser comes at a critical time for the Cancer Concern Center, as it faces the most difficult fundraising challenges in the organization’s 13-year history.
“Outrageous medical bills are to blame for most personal bankruptcies,” Montalbano states. “But the horrible economy also has impacted non-profits like ours that focus on cancer support.
“We’re not a soup kitchen, and we don’t provide affordable housing,” Montalbano continues. “We don’t fit into the ‘category’ of low-income services that most funders want to support these days. Certainly those programs are important, but we keep cancer survivors from slipping through the cracks of depression and despair. The Cancer Concern Center is an incredibly valuable resource, at the local level, without being tied to any national organizations.”
Ever since its founding in 1998, the Cancer Concern Center has been an independent non-profit run by breast cancer survivors: Lori Jeffries of Point Pleasant and Jill McDonough of Lavallette. They envisioned a warm and welcoming setting that didn’t feel like a hospital a convenient place for women and men with cancer to discuss their condition, access resources, receive non-judgmental support, and rejuvenate their spirit.
This year’s Dinner Dance takes place on Saturday, May 22, from 7-11 p.m. at The Barclay in Belmar. Tickets are $80 each (the same price as last year), and they include a premium open bar, hor d’oeuvres, a five-course formal dinner, a gift auction, and live entertainment by the Infernos.
Sponsorship opportunities are available at a variety of levels from $120 Table Sponsors to $4,000 Event Sponsors. The Cancer Concern Center will produce an Ad Journal with placements from $25 to $300. Sponsors at the $3,000 level and higher will receive Dinner Dance reservations, full-page ad, and signage at the event.
To purchase tickets or discuss sponsorships, please contact Lisa Montalbano at the Cancer Concern Center (732-701-0250 or cancerctr@aol.com).
The mission of the Cancer Concern Center is to provide emotional support and wellness programs to women and men affected by cancer. The Cancer Concern Center was the first non-profit organization to offer support services to adults with cancer in the Northern Ocean County area. It is a member of the Ocean Medical Center’s Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.
The Cancer Concern Center is completely grassroots in nature and focused on families living in Monmouth and Ocean County, New Jersey. All contributions are tax-deductible and utilized for local cancer support programs.
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