By Sarah Kuper
The Birmingham chapter of the American Cancer Society will host its annual Hope Gala on Aug. 19.
The evening will include dinner, live music and an auction with dozens of items and packages, including tickets to the musical “Hamilton” in Atlanta along with a suite at the Ritz Carlton.
The goal of the event is to celebrate and support the work of the American Cancer Society. The organization’s mission is to save lives by helping people get well and stay well, find cures and fight cancer.
This year, the society has chosen a Birmingham nonprofit as the honoree. Focusing on gastrointestinal oncology research, the Robert E. Reed Foundation strives to create a world-class center for patient education and research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The foundation accomplishes its goals by hosting the Living with Cancer Symposium, an event featuring top researchers in cancer survivability; keeping up an educational website; and funding cancer research through Dr. Marty Heslin’s dedicated lab and other UAB research labs.
The foundation’s namesake died of pancreatic cancer in 2002, but before he did, he worked with Heslin to start a foundation to “Finish the Fight” against GI cancers.
Since then, the foundation has given more than $1.5 million to UAB for research.
One of the event’s co-chairs Ann-Dee Bailey, said she is elated to have the Robert E. Reed Foundation as the honoree and she expects the gala to be a fun and educational night.
“It will be crisp and elegant and fun. I am so happy and honored to be involved – it is a cause close to my heart,” she said.
Bailey said that, while individual tickets are still on sale, corporate tables are nearly sold out. She encourages people to buy tickets soon.
For more information on the Hope Gala, visit acsbirm.ejoinme. org. ❖
