How to go
What: Ribbon of Hope Luncheon featuring keynote speaker Peggy Fleming Jenkins
When: 11:45 a.m. Oct. 14 (check-in for the luncheon begins at 11 a.m.; health-and-wellness informational booths will operate from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
Where: Sinclair Community College Building 12 (Ponitz Center), Perry Street between West Third and West Fourth streets
Cost: $50 (other sponsorship levels available)
To register or to get more info: (937) 395-8607 or www.kmc foundation.org or send e-mail to Teresa.Geisterfer @khnetwork.org
DAYTON — Former Olympic gold-medal skater Peggy Fleming Jenkins encourages women to use all three of the breast cancer early-detection methods: the checkup, mammogram and self-exams.
Her own self-exam likely saved her life. In 1998, on the 30th anniversary of her gold-medal figure-skating performance and only five months following a mammogram and doctor’s exam, Fleming discovered a lump during a self-exam and was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent surgery and follow-up treatment and has been cancer-free for 13 years.
Fleming will share her story Oct. 14 as the keynote speaker at the Kettering Medical Center Foundation’s Ribbon of Hope luncheon at 11:45 a.m. at Sinclair Community College’s Ponitz Center (Building 12). The event also will feature several health-and-wellness informational booths from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“I will tell them my journey and the lessons I’ve learned along the way,” Fleming said in a telephone interview. “My message will be about early detection, and about the importance of taking charge of their own health,” Fleming said.
In addition to the gold medal, Fleming won five U.S. figure-skating titles and three world titles, and later served as an on-air analyst for ABC Sports for nearly three decades. She lives in California with her husband Greg Jenkins, a retired dermatologist who is now a winemaker at the winery that the couple owns, Fleming Jenkins Vineyards & Winery.
The couple launched Victories Rose, a pink wine, to help raise funds for breast cancer research and awareness. In the last six years, sales of the wine have generated $35,000 for breast cancer research, Fleming said.
The Ribbon of Hope Luncheon originated in 2001 as a fundraiser for the Women’s Wellness Fund. The fund, established in 1995, provides mammography, diagnostic services and prosthetic apparel to underserved and under-insured women in the Dayton region. The fund has helped nearly 8,000 women and raised more than $900,000 through the Walk for Women’s Wellness and The Ribbon of Hope Luncheon, KMC Foundation officials said.
The Ribbon of Hope Luncheon drew more than 550 attendees in 2009. For more information, contact Teresa Geisterfer at (937) 395-8607 or e-mail Teresa.Geisterfer@ khnetwork.org.
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