PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Thousands of dollars were donated to an area non-profit organization at a Saturday, event that also celebrated those who survived and those who lost their battle to breast cancer.
Winners for Life presented the Gift of Life Foundation with $10,000 at their 20th annual Pink Tea and Breast Cancer Awareness Seminar. The event took place at the Port Arthur Civic Center and more than 350 people attended.
The money is earmarked specifically for providing free mammograms to the underserved community in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area. The funds are a direct result of Winners for Life's biggest fundraiser of the year, which begins in August and ends in March.
Throughout the eight-month-long time span, various events are held so the non-profit can meet its goal of raising at least $10,000. These events include bake sales, Big Wings and Waffles, raffles, and more.
Winners for Life Vice President Noelle Green-Anderson described Saturday's event as amazing.
“Today was not only about educating the public,” Anderson said. “It was also about celebrating survivors and some of our past members that succumbed to cancer and the great work that we do in the community.”
Anderson said Winners for Life strives to educate the community about breast cancer and encourage well-women checkups and mammograms.
A registered nurse spoke to attendees. She gave tips on how to prevent breast cancer, information on statistics, and told everyone in attendance what they could do to maintain their health. Anderson said the speaker was phenomenal.
The event took a hiatus in 2021 due to the global pandemic.
Anderson said a great deal of their meetings were held via ZOOM due to COVID-19. The organization had to come up with different ways to fundraise to meet their goal.
Anderson said at times they were uncertain. However, members of Winners for Life met their goal, and they are happy they did.
“[We] just want to thank the community of the Beaumont-Port Artur area for coming out and supporting us every year,” Anderson said. “They always support us for every fundraiser that we have, and we hope our work will ultimately help save more lives."
Winners for Life strives to educate and save the lives of men and women concerning breast cancer.
The event is open to the public. Anderson said a majority of the people who attended were from the Beaumont-Port Arthur area, have been affected by breast cancer, know someone who has been affected by breast cancer or are survivors showing support.
Winners for Life was founded by Port Arthur native Dr. Winifred Freelow. Freelow herself was a breast cancer survivor and started the foundation when she began to notice that it was affecting an alarming number of women in her community.
Freelow was a well-known assistant superintendent of Port Arthur schools and died after developing pancreatic cancer. Freelow's daughter, Tracey Young, has taken up the torch and is leading the organization.
Winners for Life falls under the umbrella of Rilassati Women’s Retreats. RSW has three separate women’s health initiatives that focus on breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and diabetes.
