Links,  shine spotlight on Breast and Cervical Cancer survival at annual Pink Ball

By Laydell Wood Harper/Tell Us Detroit

DETROIT (Tell Us Det) - The Pink Ball 2012 held this past Saturday was an overwhelming success. The event was a sell-out, and for a great cause. More than 500----people came together in the elegantly decorated ballroom of the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center to support the Greater Wayne County Chapter of The Links, Inc. in their effort to shine the spotlight on and raise money for Breast and Cervical Cancer screening.

The evening was fun, festive and lively with music, dancing and entertainment, and with Huel Perkins, Fox 2 News anchor as host for the evening, but there was also the serious, meaningful side and the reason so many people attended the event.

“Our signature Pink Ball event is celebrating the power of change in Detroit by individuals who have given unconditionally to help the lives of others,” said Tonya Corbin, President, Greater Wayne County Chapter of the Links, Inc. “They possess the power to change Detroit.”

“During the launch of the Pink Ball in 2010, we forged relationships and partnerships that raised enough funds to help 350 women with preventative breast and cervical care.”

The Pink Ball honorees saluted for their extraordinary vision and fortitude are George N’Namdi, founder of the N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Delores Bennett, founder of Adopt-A-Child Christmas event, the Detroit Venture Partners and Peter Karmanos, president of Compuware Corporation.

George N’Namdi was selected because of his commitment to art and culture and his revitalization efforts in the Midtown/Sugar Hill area of Detroit. We applaud his work as founder of the N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enlightenment through the arts.

Delores Bennett was honored for her outstanding work as founder of the Adopt-A-Child Christmas event where over the years more than 30,000 children have received gifts. We applaud her tireless efforts for making children’s Christmas wishes come true.



Josh Linkner, CEO / Managing Partner, General Partners; Brian Hermelin, Dan Gilbert, Earvin Johnson- Detroit Venture Partners, LLC was an honoree because of Detroit Venture Partners’ purpose to help rebuild the Detroit area through entrepreneurial fire and using business as a tool to change a city.

Pete Karmanos was honored for his extraordinary achievements in building Compuware into a globally successful software and services company as well his courage and vision in investing in downtown Detroit. Mr. Karmanos leadership exemplifies the “power of one” that we seek to honor at this year’s Pink Ball- - the tremendous long-term effects that a single individual can have on a community through his individual decisions and actions.

“The Greater Wayne County Chapter of the LINKS, Inc. created the Pink Ball in 2010 and launched the Healthy Women…Empowered Community Initiative. At the core of Healthy Women…Empowered Community Initiative, it is the Link’s belief that a fully healthy woman is an empowered woman,” Corbin said.

This was the second bi-annual “Pink Ball” event; the first held in 2010 raised an impressive $75,000 gift donation for the Karmanos Cancer Institutes’ Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention Program. A gift that provided Breast and Cervical Cancer screening for 350 uninsured or underinsured women in Wayne County who would have been unable to afford screening. This was a lifesaving gift for three of those women who were detected and completed treatment programs through the BCCP program.

The program is administered by Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, which is one of 40 National Cancer Institutes designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. Karmanos Cancer Institute became Michigan’s first and only hospital exclusively focused on cancer in December, 2005.

BCCP provides breast screening, follow-up and treatment at no cost to uninsured women between the ages of 40-64 living in the Detroit Metropolitan region. The program has provided nearly 60,000 free screenings and potentially curative breast cancer treatment to nearly 700 women since its inception. It is unfortunate that every year, the need for screenings exceeds the amount of funding provided by the State of Michigan. Additional support is needed from our community. This year, the Greater Wayne County Chapter of the Links, Inc. has committed to raising funds to meet this need through its signature event, The Pink Ball. For every $300 raised, another woman in need will get access to life saving screenings.



Many of the Links members worked tirelessly to make this event a success; Chair-Tanya Heidelberg Yapp, Co-Chair- Karen Heidelberg Barnwell, and Gina Coleman. Others were Links: Kelly Green, Vera Heidelberg, Florene McMurtry and Dianne Robinson.

Many of the guests and patrons were local physicians and business leaders who understand the importance of early detection of breast and cervical cancer and want to do whatever they can to help.
A recent Ebony Magazine story reports; African Americans across all income levels have a strong culture of philanthropy which dates back generations. Through churches and fraternal organizations such as the Masons, and Greek-letter groups blacks have long given toward self-help and humanitarian efforts. Philanthropy and the potential to give exists at every level of American life.

And according to Black is the New Green: Marketing to Affluent African Americans, the total wealth of affluent African American households is $107 billion. And of that total more than $87 billion is disposable income. The figure is expected to grow as the number of Black millionaires in the United States moves upward…growing from a handful in the 1960’s to beyond the thousands today.

The Pink Ribbon carries a powerful message that supports a lifesaving cause for uninsured women in Wayne County. It is hard for many of us to imagine that there women who must decide whether it is financially feasible to have an important lifesaving health screening or pay the rent.

The Links Incorporated, established in 1946 is an international, not-for-profit corporation with over 12,000 professional women of color in 270 chapters located in 42 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. It is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of extraordinary women who are committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. The Links Foundation Incorporated (the “Foundation”) is the philanthropic arm of The Links, Incorporated and a non-profit organization operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended.