The Partnership for Gynecological Cancer Support (PGCS) will resume its annual fundraising efforts on September 25, 2022. The event – BAGS, BLING AND BINGO—will be held on the rooftop of the Carroll Daniel Building at 330 Main Street in downtown Gainesville on Sunday from 2-5 pm. Tickets are $50, and include light refreshments, a signature cocktail, bingo card, and a chance to win door prizes. Additional bingo cards and raffle tickets for the grand prize 14K gold bracelet, featuring sapphires and opals, will be on sale. A silent auction will feature additional fine jewelry. Each winner of 12 rounds of bingo will receive a couture purse from Louis Vuitton, Coach, Michael Kors, Vera Bradley, Dooney & Bourke, and more.
Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of PGCS, Sue Sigmon-Nosach, explained that she started PGCS in 2013 to reduce the financial toxicity that a gynecological cancer diagnosis brings to a woman and her family. PGCS works with nurse navigators in the chemotherapy treatment centers at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville and Northside Hospital in Atlanta to identify women in need of financial assistance while they are undergoing treatment. Assistance is provided via a $300 gift card, which allows patients to purchase groceries, gas, medications, or any other item available at Kroger. For example, the card can be used to make utility payments at Kroger stores where that service is offered.
To date, PGCS has contributed over $450,000 to women undergoing treatment for a gynecological cancer, which includes ovarian, cervical, uterine, vaginal and vulvar cancers. PGCS relies on its annual fundraiser and memorial contributions to provide the money needed to help patients. Due to COVID, no fundraisers were held in 2020 or 2021, making the success of this year’s event especially critical according to Sigmon-Nosach.
Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. In 2019, the latest year for which incidence data are available, 19,571 new cases of ovarian cancer were reported, and 13,445 women died of this cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Seats are limited for Bags, Bling, and Bingo. Individual tickets, at $50 each, can be purchased via credit card, Venmo or PayPal on the PGCS website, www.supportgc.org. Tables are available for sponsorship, and include six, eight, or ten seats with extra bingo cards. Sponsorship levels are $750, $1500, and $3000. For more information about becoming a sponsor, contact Sigmon-Nosach at the Partnership for Gynecological Support at (678) 897-1461.
More information about PGCS is available on the organization’s website and Facebook page.
