Breast cancer fundraiser unites the community

Survivor raises money for American Cancer Society

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Hundreds of local residents arrived at the East Meadow Jewish Center last Sunday for a good cause: to support breast cancer awareness and research, all in support of a local breast cancer survivor.

Robin Steinberger spent six month planning the inaugural fundraiser, which will donate its proceeds to the American Cancer Society on behalf of her team, Robin’s Racers, which will participate in the Oct. 18 Making Strides Against Breast cancer Walk at Jones Beach.

“Yesterday was amazing,” Steinberger said in an email to the Herald on Monday. “I was so proud of the success of the event, and grateful for my family and closest friends who came to help me setup, sell raffles, and run the auctions. We have even started to discuss another event for next year!”

Before last weekend, Steinberger had already received close to $5,000 in donations, and said the total value of the prizes donated for Sunday’s event reached $60,000.

What made the event extra special, she said, was other local breast cancer survivors who arrived and shared their own stories. “It reinforced why we wanted to put this event together,” said Steinberger, a 1997 East Meadow High School graduate. “[Breast cancer] has touched so many lives in so many ways.”

One in eight women contract some form of invasive breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. It is the second leading cause of death among women, after lung cancer, killing one in 37. More than 3.1 million women in the U.S. are breast cancer survivors.

Sunday’s fundraiser comprised more than 50 vendors, live music, children’s activities and numerous raffle prizes. “I’m overwhelmed by the support and the amount of people who came to the event,” said Steinberger, who has been married to her husband, Barry, for 10 years. They have two daughters, Jordyn, a second-grader at McVey Elementary, and Brianna, a preschooler at the Ilene M. Rubin Nursery School. “The excitement and the buzz could be felt in the room before the doors opened to the public. You could tell everyone was there not to just sell, but to also support this great cause.”