YUKON, Pa. — Pretty in Pink is a fundraiser that helps Westmoreland County cancer patients in financial need. The event is in its 15th year, but this will be the first year without its founder, Lois Denning.
“She would be thrilled to know that we are carrying on here, very much so,” said Mary Ann Baber, president of Westmoreland County SNPJ, which hosts the event. “And we continue to do so in the future.”
It is an emotional day for the people setting up this year’s Pretty in Pink fundraiser at the Slovenian Hall in Yukon.
“It’s sad that she won’t be there in person with us, but I know she’s there in spirit,” Denning’s daughter, Jackie Denning, said.
Lois started Pretty in Pink with a mission to assist local Westmoreland County cancer patients struggling financially during treatment and recovery. The event has raised well over $100,000 since it started 15 years ago. The money goes to The Karla J. Nease Foundation, which helped Denning while she faced cancer herself as a working single mother of two.
“She was one of the first people we helped,” said Joe Nease with the Karla J. Nease Foundation. “We actually ended up helping her two different times over a couple of years, and Lois got to the point where she felt like she had to give back, and that was the embryo for starting this program that she has here.”
Denning was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2009, then breast cancer in 2011. She beat them both. But this past November she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died less than a month later. Now her two daughters are determined to keep her efforts alive.
“She was such a fighter,” said Lois’s daughter, Rosie Denning. “I think she would want to make sure we are still supporting and helping those who are still in their fight.”
Jackie Denning added, “Our Mom definitely enjoyed living her life, and she would have wanted us to celebrate the positives.”
The Pretty in Pink Fundraiser will kick off at the Slovenian Hall in Yukon Sunday, July 26, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door. You can give to the Karla J. Nease Foundation at 50 Old Main Street, Blairsville, PA 15717.
Click here to learn more about Pretty in Pink.
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