Mountain Ridge CC hosts LIFE event for cancer research
Guests attending a 19th annual LIFE event heard first-person accounts about breast cancer as the Val Skinner Foundation continued offering education and funding for research.
Almost two dozen LPGA members joined Skinner at Mountain Ridge CC for a day of golf, although the former LPGA touring professional made clear the LPGA Pros In the Fight to Eradicate (LIFE) cancer effort deserved top priority.
Skinner recognized the excitement that tethers playing golf on a championship course and alongside some of the world’s top professional golfers including World Golf Hall of Fame member Dame Laura Davies, Aza Munoz, Brittany Lincicome, Brittany Lang, Christina Kim and many other champion caliber stars who joined the event — many making appearances after playing in the ShopRite LPGA Classic a day before, but she refocused attention on mission.
“The real work gets done inside this room,” Skinner noted, as breast cancer survivors, corporate leaders and medical professionals discussed breast cancer.
Skinner, called to action after her friend Heather Farr received a breast cancer diagnosis and subsequently died from the disease in November 1993, voiced perspective.
“The dynamics of our event are so unique in that we bring strong, talented athletes together with strong, determined survivors and fighters united in the fight against breast cancer,” said Skinner. “It makes for a powerful statement and an unbelievable catalyst to raise much needed funds for education and research.”
Skinner raised $500,000 at her event which also honored two breast cancer survivors, Jennifer Merschdorf and Marjorie Stromberg Miller. Both survivors of breast cancer were named LIFE Heroes for 2018.
Skinner, a breast cancer fighting champion, earmarked $475,000 for The LIFE Center at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the remaining $25,000 moved to the Young Survival Coalition on behalf of the LIFE Heroes. Over the last 18 years, the Val Skinner Foundation has raised nearly $12 million toward eradicating breast cancer.
Skinner’s foundation connects to The Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state’s first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Skinner noted CINJ is uniquely positioned to bring state-of-the-art clinical services and programs and access to clinical research trials to New Jersey and surrounding areas.
Funds donated through the LIFE Event support the LIFE Center. Founded in 2002 to recognize the advocacy and leadership role of Val Skinner and the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), the LIFE Center was established to provide increasing awareness of and supporting programs for young women with an increased risk for breast cancer.
L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist.