Cancer Support Community Valley/Ventura/Santa Barbara (Cancer Support Community VVSB) held its annual Celebration of Hope Garden Party & Awards Dinner to a sell-out crowd. Presented by AMGEN and supported in part by the Bill and Joanne Miller Charitable Trust, UCLA Health, Cassar Family Foundation and Seagen, festivities took place under the evening stars at Los Robles Greens in Thousand Oaks on Sunday, September 17.
A full house of 250 friends, colleagues, physicians, loved ones and supportive community members gathered to connect, share stories and to honor the 2023 Oncology Heroes: Meghan Cleary, RN of Los Robles Regional Medical Center; Heather Kellis-Young, RN of Dignity Health Infusion Centers; Shauna A. Lotz, RN of Radiation Oncology Centers of Ventura County; and Kayo Matsumoto MS, LMFT of Cancer Support Community VVSB.
An evening of celebration became a night of community as each of the Oncology Heroes shared moments from their own experiences and challenges in a live sit-down conversation from the stage led by Cancer Support Community VVSB Board Co-Chair Deane Wolcott, MD. The conversation served as a reminder of the kindness and resilience required to support cancer patients.
"We were fortunate to have such an amazing show of support with our largest guest attendance ever,” said Monica Merryman, executive director of Cancer Support Community Valley/Ventura/Santa Barbara. “Events like this remind us that Community is something you do, something to actively participate in and most importantly something that we can all share and feel, and this is a great community.”
Cancer Support Community Valley/Ventura/Santa Barbara ensures that all people impacted by cancer are empowered by knowledge, strengthened by action and sustained by community, offering programs that are always at no cost to participants.
Learn more at CancerSupportVVSB.org.