5K to benefit Derby cancer center coming up June 6

By Jean Falbo-Sosnovich
Register Correspondent

DERBY >> Battling, and ultimately beating, cancer is something Horace Behrle knows about firsthand.

That’s why Behrle, treasurer of the Ansonia Rod & Gun Club, said he feels so strongly about the group donating funds each year to benefit the Griffin Hospital Center for Cancer Care’s Annual 5K Walk/Run.

“The center is a very special place for me because I beat cancer here,” said Behrle, who also serves as a volunteer ambassador at the Center for Cancer Care. “Fighting cancer and caring for cancer patients is important to the Ansonia Rod & Gun Club because we’ve lost a few guys to cancer and we know how hard it can be on a person.”

The club recently donated $5,000 to be the 5K’s finish line sponsor, according to Christian Meagher, Griffin’s communications specialist and 5K director, and has made donations to the event for the past five years.

Read more here.

Griffin Hospital in Derby seeks sponsors for 5K Walk/Run

Runners start out at last year's 5K Walk/Run. / Contributed photo

DERBY - Area businesses and community groups are invited to support The Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital 6^th Annual 5K Walk/Run set for Oct. 18.
 

This community-based event drew more than 500 participants last year and raised more than $140,000 in its four-year history. 
The course winds through the streets of Derby and Ansonia near the Center for Cancer Care at 350 Seymour Ave., and draws runners and walkers from throughout the Lower Naugatuck Valley, including participants from Derby, Ansonia, Shelton, Seymour, and Naugatuck, and other parts of the state. 
Proceeds from the event support area cancer survivors during their treatment by providing financial assistance for a variety needs, including housing, clothing and grocery bills, transportation, wigs, and complementary medical services (massage, acupuncture, etc.).

Sponsorship opportunities include signage at the event, logos on the event promotional materials and T-shirts, and opportunities to have a table to distribute products at the event or put items, coupons or promotional material in participant give-away bags.

For more information, contact Christian Meagher, 203-732-7431 or cmeagher@griffinhealth.org.

For more information about the 5K Walk/Run, visit http://griffin5k.kintera.org.

This is a press release from Griffin Hospital.

Shelton resident wins memorial trophy at hospital's 5K event

Winner of the inaugural Vic Weinstein Memorial Trophy Carl Sylvester of Shelton, center, with Bridgeport Hospital Foundation President Steve Jakab and Director of Development Susan Chudwick. / Contributed photo


BRIDGEPORT - The Bridgeport Hospital Home Run May 25, presented by AMR, was the most successful in the event’s 11-year history, attracting more than 750 participants and expected to raise over $25,000 to support the Joel E. Smilow Heart Institute at the hospital.

“Everything worked in our favor – a great turnout, great volunteer and sponsor support, and especially great weather,” said Steve Jakab, president of the Bridgeport Hospital Foundation, which organized the event.
“Our thanks go out to everyone for making this year’s Home Run such a huge success.”

The Bridgeport Hospital Home Run, which begins and ends at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, home of the Bridgeport Bluefish, includes a 5K run, walk, and wheelchair race, and a children’s fun run inside the ballpark.

Although participants came from all over Connecticut, Trumbull residents made a special mark on the event.
Overall 5K winner Matt Ferroro and women’s champion Lisa Romanchick are both from Trumbull. 
Wheelchair racer Kari Craddock, 10, also lives in Trumbull. This was her third 5K and she achieved her personal best time.

“Kari’s participation was inspiring,” Jakab said. “And it underscored the fact that the Home Run is an inclusive event, not limited to serious runners. Many people choose to walk the 5K course, as well, many of them pushing baby strollers. The aim is to promote good heart health through exercise.”

Trophies were also presented to the top three men and women 5K finishers in several age categories, from 9 and under to 80 and over. 
Carl Sylvester of Shelton received the first-ever Vic Weinstein memorial trophy for best time in the 70 and over group.

Weinstein, who had taken part in each of the first 10 Home Run 5K events, died last December at age 75. 
A resident of Tarrytown, NY, he was a former IBM manager and community volunteer who began running in the 1970s and continued until the end of his life. His wife, three children, and eight grandchildren all took part in this year’s Home Run.

Part of Yale New Haven Health System, Bridgeport Hospital is a 383-bed acute care hospital (plus 42 beds licensed to Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital) serving parts of Fairfield and New Haven counties. The hospital admits more than 8,000 patients and receives more than 240,000 outpatient visits annually.

This post is taken from a press release from Bridgeport Hospital. 

A new year ahead brings hope for us all

As 2012 comes to a close and I celebrate another birthday in a few short days I'm really not feeling nostalgic about the passage of time.

On the contrary. I'm looking forward to 2013 and a new start.

Soon I'll be marking my second anniversary as a breast cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with the disease in February 2011.


The past two years have been an educational experience, to say the least.
From hearing my doctor give me the news of my diagnosis on Feb. 11, to two surgeries, to chemotherapy and radiation treatments, to losing my hair, I've learned a lot.

One thing I learned is that keeping oneself healthy is a full-time job. Appointments abound!  

I've also learned to appreciate the little things in life more than ever before.

Soon after I was diagnosed I joined a support group.
I'm part of the Circle of Friends, which is based at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby. The ladies certainly live up to the group's name. They are friendly! I've never been in a support group before. New members are always welcome. 

I consider myself a private person but a year ago I wrote a revealing (for me) story about the American Cancer Society's "Look Good...Feel Better" session I attended at Griffin Hospital.

And I've participated in three fund-raising walks - two sponsored by Griffin and one coordinated this October by a dedicated Naugatuck mother of four whose own mother is a cancer survivor. The walks benefited the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital.

This year I formed a team. It was a lot of fun.

I'm looking forward to getting an even bigger team together next October. New members are always welcome. {grin}

This fall Griffin Hospital launched a survivorship program and I've been taking advantage of what the program offers. Last week I was one of only three patients who took part in a helpful workshop run by licensed clinical social worker Donna Hayes.

My takeaway from that session was I need to make time for moi, something with which many women seem to have trouble.
Women of a certain generation (myself included) have been raised to take care of everyone, which leaves little time or energy for much else.

Maintaining a healthy diet, exercising, getting physical rehab, socializing, participating in fund-raising activities, and writing about all of the above. It's all a part of kicking cancer to the curb.


If you have gone through a bout with cancer as millions of us have you know whereof I speak.

 
And so...what about those New Year's Resolutions?

I haven't made a list yet, but most likely I'll jot a few resolutions down on a piece of paper.

And what about you?

Officials take part in Griffin 5K

Griffin President Patrick Charmel and Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe

I want to publicly thank Mayor Della Volpe for joining my team (and wearing pink) Saturday at the fourth annual 5K Walk/Run to benefit the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital.

As a breast cancer survivor I truly appreciate his support of Team McVillers and the cause.

He and Patrick Charmel stopped to pose for a photo for someone and I was fortunate enough to get a photo of them too. Della Volpe was unable to walk the route because the ninth annual Ansonia Harvest Festival was calling him.

It was a wonderful morning; the hospital reported today more than 550 people participated, which was a record number.

See you at the walk next year!

Reminder: Monday is the start of 'Pink' month in the Valley

Time to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month

As a 19-month breast cancer survivor I must admit October now has a special place in my heart.

I do what I can to help raise awareness, and make sure I wear a little bit of pink every day. 

Starting Monday, there are many activities planned by the grass roots' initiative The Valley Goes Pink.
The initiative benefits the Hewitt Center for Breast Wellness at Griffin Hospital in Derby.  

In addition, the fourth annual 5K walk/run that benefits the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital is Oct. 6. The event raises funds to help those diagnosed with all forms of cancer who are treated at the Center.

I'm kinda-sorta training for the walk. Being as out of shape as I am the thought of walking 3.1 miles with my teammates next Saturday is making me a bit nervous. As team captain does that mean I have to lead the rest of them? Scary thought indeed.

Thankfully the walk is not a competitive one. I finished it last year and imagine I can do that this year as well!

The event starts at 9 a.m. at the Center for Cancer Care, 350 Seymour Ave., Derby.
If you join in you'll find lots of dedicated family and friends eager to participate in honor or in memory of someone or just to show support.

Food, live entertainment, and a health information fair are part of the scene.

It's not too late to join a team or even walk as an individual, as I did last year.

Please think about lacing up your sneakers and taking a trek around Ansonia and Derby neighborhoods with us.

You'll be glad you did!