National non-profit the Colorectal Cancer Alliance hosted their eighth annual Blue Hope Bash on Thursday, October 25, at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
The event is the premier fundraising gala of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance and brings together individuals and corporations that are passionate about supporting the Alliance’s mission to end colorectal cancer within our lifetime. Since the event’s inception in 2010, it has raised more than $8.5 million. This year’s gala brought together more than 650 attendees and raised $1.3 million toward the organization’s key strategic goals:
The theme this year was “In Our Lifetime,” a message that resonated with Today Show and MSNBC News anchor Craig Melvin, the gala’s emcee. His brother Lawrence Meadows was diagnosed two years ago with stage IV (metastatic) colorectal cancer at age 39. Earlier this year, Craig provided an update on his brother’s cancer journey (link). In March 2018, Melvin invited Alliance CEO Michael Sapienza to the Today Show to talk about early detection and young-onset incidence rates (link).
The 2018 Blue Hope Bash was co-chaired by Jennifer Chow, Jennifer Redmond, Tammy Sickels and Alexa Smith and included a welcome cocktail reception, a special dinner program, live and silent auctions, and concluded with one lucky ally winning a custom 2019 Porsche Boxster.
A few highlights from the evening:
Photos from the evening, courtesy of Washington Talent, can be viewed here.
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The meetings are part of a broader government advocacy initiative by the Alliance to address the growing prevalence of CRC and improve patient care, advance research, and break down regulatory barriers that limit access to life-saving treatments.