When she was 5, Jaquelyn Scharnick’s mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, a disease her mother has since survived twice. But cancer struck Scharnick herself at age 13 when doctors diagnosed her with leukemia; after fighting it off, the disease returned two years later.
“I’m considered cured,” says Scharnick, 29, a former New Yorker now living in Dallas. “I’m very fortunate, not only to be here today but to be doing as well as I am.”
In 2006, Scharnick and two friends with their own experiences in dealing with breast cancer founded The Pink Agenda (thepinkagenda.org), A not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in NYC, devoted to raising money for breast cancer research and increasing awareness of the disease among young professionals. “We wanted,” says Scharnick, “to find some meaning in the disease.”
The Pink Agenda distinguishes itself by reaching out to professionals under 30 with fun functions held at popular NYC venues. As its website declares, “We are looking to make breast cancer history and philanthropy fun.”
The party continued this past Friday night, when The Pink Agenda celebrated a new alignment with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The bash, held at a Lower East Side performance space, drew hundreds of attendees who celebrated with the host committee, including fashionista Chris Benz, Pippa Lord and Barbara Bush, the former president’s daughter. The Pink Agenda was also able to present a $250,000 check to the foundation.
“For all of the strides that have been made in the fight against breast cancer, young people have remained under-engaged and underutilized,” Scharnick says. “The Pink Agenda is changing that. We reach out to young people in particular. It’s a lot of great people doing fun things.”
The Pink Agenda is an all-volunteer effort, and has raised and donated some $700,000. A big chunk of that money, nearly $300,000, was donated just this year, a portion having been raised by The Pink Agenda’s team of 19, which ran in the ING New York City Marathon, a race they will again be undertaking on Nov. 3.
These runners include Donya LaHaye, who grew up in a family where she saw her mother, grandmother and aunt receive breast cancer diagnoses. “It was my mom’s generation’s problem in my eyes,” LaHaye, a resident of the East Village, says. “It impacted me emotionally but I didn’t take a stance.”
Not, that is, until LaHaye had her own breast cancer scare earlier this year. While watching an episode of “Sex and the City” featuring a main character dealing with the disease, LaHaye checked her breasts and discovered a large lump.
“I had a panic attack,” she recalls. “I kept thinking, ‘I’m only 28; this is not happening to me now.’”
Thankfully, tests determined the lump was benign. Yet, not long after, one of LaHaye’s closest friends, also 28, was diagnosed with breast cancer. “I realized this is not just my mom’s problem, it’s my generation’s too,” she says. “Early detection is everything. That’s when I decided it’s time to get involved.”
LaHaye has raised $2,500 so far. She hopes that through her fundraising and by running with a shirt listing the names of more than 20 people who have had or who are currently fighting breast cancer, she can raise awareness among “among people who may not have thought about breast cancer before.”
Emily Lundell, of Manhattan, a real estate broker with The Corcoran Group, also has a personal tie to cancer — she is running her first marathon with The Pink Agenda team in honor and remembrance of her mother, Ellen, who died of ovarian cancer at age 62.
“What inspires me is not only the worthy cause, but the incredible young women who put the organization together,” says Lundell, who has raised $2,300. “They took a painful loss and turned it into something that can benefit others. How could I not want to be involved in that?”