Boca Hospital invites cancer survivors to celebrate

By Dale M. King
CITY EDITOR

In recognition of National Cancer Survivors Day Sunday, Boca Raton Community Hospital is inviting those who have beaten the illness, along with friends and family, to join more than 700 communities worldwide for the world’s largest cancer survivors’ event.

The hospital’s Survivors Day festivities run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the grounds of Boca Raton Community Hospital, in the Charles E. and Dorothy F. Schmidt Education Center.

This year’s theme, “Building Hope,” correlates with the planned November 2008 opening of the 98,000-square-foot Harvey and Phyllis Sandler Pavilion of the Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute at Boca Raton Community Hospital.

From 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., guests will have lunch and hear from speakers that will include both a physician and a patient who will recall how they fought cancer and survived.

During the day, survivors, families and friends can create a ceramic tile that will be displayed on the “Wall of Hope” located in the Harvey and Phyllis Sandler Pavilion of the Lynn Cancer Institute. There also will be arts and crafts for children, raffles and giveaways.

“Our community’s National Cancer Survivors Day will be defined by joy, camaraderie, hope, compassion, faith and love as we honor cancer survivors for their unwavering strength and courage,” said Darci McNally, director of the Multimodality Center at Boca Raton Community Hospital.

“This day is also a time that survivors can take to recognize families, friends and those in the healthcare community that have stood by them during this difficult time.”

This year, McNally said, marks the 21st annual celebration of National Cancer Survivors Day, which was started in Kansas City, Mo., by Richard A. Bloch, co-founder of H&R Block, and his wife Annette to demonstrate that a diagnosis of cancer was not an automatic death sentence.

Today, the annual event recognizes the courage and strength of America’s growing population of more than 10 million cancer survivors, as well as their loved ones and caregivers.

For more information, or to RSVP for the National Cancer Survivors Day event, call 561-95-LEARN.

The Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute’s Harvey and Phyllis Sandler Pavilion is scheduled to open later this year. Upon its completion, the $73 million, 98,000 square-foot facility will house oncology, imaging, radiation, chemotherapy, support services and clinical research.