LAKEPORT, Calif. – Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s second annual ReRunway Secondhand Fashion Show Fundraiser raised $30,000 to fund breast cancer navigation services for local residents.
More than 80 models strutted their stuff on the catwalk for a cause at Boatique Winery.
Groups and individuals picked themes, and dressed accordingly in used and secondhand clothes.
Hospital models included staff from the clinics dressed as nerds; clinical effectiveness staff dressed in 50s outfits; ICU nurses dressed as gypsies; emergency department staff clad in Halloween-themed clothes; patient access staff in pirate outfits; and the senior management team, who recreated the Wizard of Oz.
Staff from other local organizations participated as well, including Hospice Services of Lake County angels; Tribal Health rockabillies; REACH as Charlie’s Angels; the bewitched Lake County Office of Education; and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, which spoofed Tropic Thunder. Breast cancer survivors closed the show.
Through sponsorships, model-based fundraising, ticket sales and attendee donations, the event raised $30,000, which will directly benefit and expand breast cancer navigation services.
Sponsors included Sutter Lakeside Hospital Medical Staff, California Advanced Imaging Associates, Sutter Lakeside Hospital Auxiliary, San Francisco Emergency Medical Associates, Lake County Tribal Health Consortium, Pacific Companies, Unger Construction, Stokes Ladders, Action Sanitary, Northlake Pharmacy, Lucky’s Custom Homes and the Lakeport Lions Club.
The sheriff’s office also donated $5,000 from selling pink patches throughout the month of October.
Last year, the money raised at ReRunway funded a year of navigation for more than 30 local women, more than 30 of whom were diagnosed with breast cancer.
Navigation services provide emotional support and counseling, as well as help scheduling appointments, surgery and follow up care.
Val Ungewitter, who currently serves as Sutter Lakeside’s patient navigator, is a survivor herself.
“I tested positive for the BRCA gene about 10 years ago, and underwent a double mastectomy,” said Ungewitter. “I’m passionate about helping other women through the maze. Oftentimes I’ll get a text from one of my ladies at ten thirty at night, or at six in the morning. I’m available as much as possible because I know how important it is to have someone to lean on.”
When a patient is diagnosed with breast cancer, she stays on navigation service throughout chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and recovery.
While many navigation programs serve women who stay within a particular health system, Sutter Lakeside patients receive navigation and support wherever they choose to receive treatment.
Statistically, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime, but public health data indicates that women in Lake County have a higher rate than state and national averages.
Eighty-five percent of women who have breast cancer have no family history of the disease.
For more information about breast cancer support services, visit www.sutterlakeside.org.
