Breast cancer awareness advocate and 2012 Miss USA Contestant Allyn Rose will headline Emanuel Medical Center’s free, sixteenth annual Women’s Cancer Awareness Night Out, scheduled for Oct. 8.
Rose made national headlines before last year’s Miss USA pageant, when she was competing as Miss District of Columbia. Rose announced she intended to have a preventative mastectomy, even though she did not carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation most commonly associated with hereditary breast cancer.
Rose was 16 when her mother died of breast cancer, and she also lost her grandmother and great aunt to the disease. Her father introduced the idea of the surgery after her mother died.
Rose will bring her message of hope and advocacy to Turlock.
“I thought it was an opportunity to save a lot of lives and tell women they can take charge of their health care,” she said. “I think that’s an important message.”
KCRA Reporter Sharokina Shams, a former Turlock resident and California State University Stanislaus graduate, will be the evening’s master of ceremonies. The program will also feature teenage singing sensation Capri Ruberto Anderson, who soared to YouTube fame and wide acclaim on the strength of a song she wrote and performed in support of her mother, who was treated for breast cancer.
Also at the event, the Turlock Firefighters will surprise a recipient with the association’s first-ever Pink Helmet Award. The award will be presented to someone whose life has been touched by cancer and who represents the characteristics of a firefighter— compassion, bravery, honesty, commitment and courage. Nominations will be accepted through Sept. 23 at www.turlockfirefighters.org.
“It’s going to be another motivating and inspiring evening,” said Pennie Rorex, Emanuel’s assistant vice president of corporate communication and marketing. “But I encourage ladies to order tickets early, as last year tickets were gone the first day they became available.”
Doors for the event open at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at Monte Vista Chapel in Turlock. A procession of cancer survivors will open the program at 7 p.m. Tickets are free, but must be requested in advance beginning at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 16. Tickets can be reserved online at www.emanuelmedicalcenter.org/cancer or by phoning Emanuel Cancer Center at (209) 664-2434. Tickets are limited to 10 per individual.
For information about Emanuel Cancer Center, visit www.emanuelmedicalcenter.org/cancer.
