La Grange - The community is invited to a tree-lighting ceremony at Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital to commemorate October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The free event will take place at 7 p.m. Sept. 29 at the hospital located at 5101 S. Willow Springs Road in La Grange.

Pink mums and thousands of pink lights will transform the hospital’s lobby into an elegant setting for the ceremony. Refreshments will be served and a violinist will perform live music for residents who will be able to sign an American Cancer Society banner pledging to get their annual mammogram and urging loved ones to do the same.

Speakers including Dr. Mita Majmundar, Dr. Colleen Hagen and Dr. Kathleen Baker will honor breast cancer survivors and discuss the importance of mammograms.  

“Join our hospitals in making a stand. We will not allow breast cancer to keep taking our mothers, our sisters, our daughters or ourselves,” said Majmundar, director of breast imaging and intervention at Adventist Midwest Health. “Together our community can pledge to battle breast cancer together.”

The winners of the amateur Pink Ribbon Art Contest also will also be announced. The art and essay contest is open to three age groups, kindergarten through adult, with prizes awarded in each group. Art and essay entries related to breast cancer awareness, education or experiences will be accepted. Deliver entries by Sept. 26, with entry form securely attached, to Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital. For more information, visit www.keepingyouwell.com/pinkart.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women, except for skin cancers. The chance of developing invasive breast cancer at some time in a woman's life is a little less than 1 in 8 or about 12 percent. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2011 about 230,500 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women and about 39,500 women will die from breast cancer.  

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Adventist Midwest Health includes Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital, Adventist GlenOaks Hospital, Adventist Hinsdale Hospital and Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital. To find a physician, visit www.keepingyouwell.com.

Media contact: Sheila Galloro, public relations specialist, Adventist Midwest Health, sheila.galloro@ahss.org; 630-856-2359.