Cocktails & Belmont III Benefit Raises $10,000 for Sarcoma Cancer Research

Cocktails & Belmont III took place on June 11, 2022 at RJ Daniels American Bar & Grill in Rockville Centre, New York as our third "evening at the races" style benefit after a three year lapse following our second annual benefit due to the events of COVID-19. We invited friends and supporters of Ken Pribil Jr Foundation to enjoy race-themed festivities while viewing the 154th running of the Belmont Stakes, and were fortunate to raise over $10,000 towards the 2022 Ken Pribil Jr Sarcoma Research Grant, which is earmarked to support Dr. Cristina Antonescu and her team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for their continuing angiosarcoma research. 

The benefit featured a presentation from Mary Reed-Holman, the Corporate and Foundation Relations Officer for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, regarding the research being done by Dr. Cristina Antonescu and how partnerships from foundations such as ours are making a difference in the field of angiosarcoma research. She shared an article that Dr. Antonescu and her team published in the Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer, which is an in-depth analysis of angiosarcoma patients who had been treated with immune checkpoint blockade inhibitors (a medication that stimulates the body’s immune system). The research found that nearly 40% of patients derived clinical benefit from this treatment. This was especially true for angiosarcoma tumors derived from the head and neck. An exciting breakthrough in research for this rare cancer!

We presented our 2022 Ken Pribil Jr Scholarship to two graduating seniors from South Side High School, one of which was present with her family at the event, Kendall Curnuck, and accepted her award and was greeted by a standing ovation from over 100 event participants and foundation supporters. This year's scholarship winners will each receive $1,000 towards their college expenses, and will also be recognized at the South Side High School Awards Ceremony on Monday, June 13, 2022 in Rockville Centre, New York.

Our team of "Junior Board Members" selected three winners for our Belmont Hat Contest, and 29 lucky individuals won high-value raffle baskets, which had a combined retail value of $5,000. This year's generous raffle sponsors include: 

• Michael Kors
• Steve Madden
• Lancome
• Trade Zero
• Gino’s Restaurant
• Parma Market
• Slider Joe’s
• Dirty Taco
• Parmagianni
• Salsa Mexicana
• George Martin
• Front Street Bakery
• RJ Daniels
• Tap Room
• Burger Bar
• Hair Machine
• Colour Bar Hair
• The Catuogno, Etienne, La Vache, La Capria, La Vena, Marmorato, Morreale, and Pribil families

Thank you to all of our event participants, donors near and far, friends at Memorial Sloan Kettering, South Side High School, and the RVC Herald, raffle sponsors, and all Ken Pribil Jr. Foundation enthusiasts for helping making this return to in-person fundraising such a success for our foundation and this important cause!

​The Ken Pribil Jr. Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization whose mission is to support cancer research and college education through annual cancer research grants and annual scholarship awards. Since 2006, our Foundation has granted over $65,500 to sarcoma cancer research at multiple research hospitals in the NY area and given over $20,000 in college scholarships to graduating high school seniors from South Side High School in Rockville Centre, New York. Donations made to the Ken Pribil Jr. Foundation are 100% tax deductible.

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