Ellen Hermanson Foundation “Back in Black” Gala to Honor John Graham and Tovah Feldshuh

Anne Gomberg, The Executive Director of The Ellen Hermanson Foundation was kind enough to converse with Hamptons.com to promote the upcoming “Back in Black Summer Benefit” on Saturday August 28, 6:30PM to 10:00 PM at Hampton Racquet, 172 Buckskill Rd., East Hampton N.Y. with the Gala Chair being Jean Shafiroff and the Emcee will be Robert Altmann.  

Concerning the work of the foundation Ms. Gomberg was very direct and serious.  She stressed the important work they do fighting breast cancer is extremely important and effective. Ms. Gomberg said, “I starting working with our founder, Julie Ratner four and a half years ago. Our mission is to insure breast healthcare and access to breast healthcare. We aim to empower people affected by cancer. We are an event driven organization so we put on events to build awareness in the community and to raise money that ends up coming right back into our own community to provide direct services for women and their families.” 

Ms. Gomberg said, “We are calling the gala ‘Back in Black’ we will have entertainment by the wonderful ‘Lynn Blue Band,’ we will be celebrating under the stars safely and we will be enjoying delicious Vietnamese cuisine…along with a live auction. Please get the word out about how much fun the party is going to be. Safety is our priority; we are requiring everyone who attends to provide vaccination information or a recent covid test.” 

Anne Gomberg wanted to zero in on the foundation and its success and went on to explain that, “We just had Ellen’s Run, which is our signature event, and it was our 26^th year. We were so glad to be able to come back out and feel the warmth and support of our community. It was really an amazing day. I think everybody is ready to come back and be together safely while following the needed protocols. That is what we are going to continue to do at our gala! It’s going to be outdoors at the Hampton Racquet. We will be honoring John Graham who is the executive director of Hampton Racquet because he has been a supporter of ours for years. Every Spring he calls us up and asks us, ‘how can I support you this year.’ Over the years they have done tennis events for us to help us raise money and raise awareness.  He and his sister Monica , who is the co-owner have really supported us we would like to honor the community members who come out and show their support by opening up their businesses for us to be able to raise money and awareness.” 

Then she added, “We are also honoring Tovah Feldshuh because she is committed to using her talents also to help us build awareness. She supports us every year, she comes to our events, she uses her voice and her platform to help build awareness about the needs for access to breast care on the east end where people don’t always notice but there are a number of people who live here year round  who struggle. They also may be underinsured or uninsured. Our mission is to serve everybody, no one is turned away from the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center for lack of insurance or inability to pay for treatment.” 

Ms. Gomberg provided some important statistics. She said that, “One in eight women are effected by breast cancer. That means everybody is really effected because knows somebody, everyone has an aunt a sister or a neighbor , cousin, co-worker who has breast cancer. It effects everybody in our community and effects families because women are the pillars of their families and if a woman is ill, the whole family suffers. That’s why our’ Ellen’s Well’ program provides free phycho-social services to breast cancer patients and that extends to their families as well. In 2019 we did over 12,000 screenings were provided at the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center and its satellites in Hampton Bays and East Hampton. Last year because of the pandemic that number dipped so our goal in 2021 is to continue to get the word out that you need to get your screenings, you can’t skip screenings because of the pandemic. Women are getting sicker because they are being diagnosed at a later stage and that’s never a good thing. “  

 For ticket information: www.EllenHermanson.org