B the Light hosting gala for breast cancer awareness
Sean Claton, Vice-President J&R Schugel, Amber Melby, founder B the Light, and Courtney Antonsen, HR Director J$R Schugel (L-R) stand with a re-designed J&R Schugel truck. The design, done for Breast Cancer awareness month, is on J&R Schugel trucks across all 48 mainland U.S. states. The truck will be at the gala outside the venue.
Survivors do art therapy with local art instructor Bridget Gusso at The Grand for Arts and Culture during a ReLight Retreat in May. Programs such as this are funded by large fundraisers like the gala.
Sean Claton, Vice-President J&R Schugel, Amber Melby, founder B the Light, and Courtney Antonsen, HR Director J$R Schugel (L-R) stand with a re-designed J&R Schugel truck. The design, done for Breast Cancer awareness month, is on J&R Schugel trucks across all 48 mainland U.S. states. The truck will be at the gala outside the venue.
Survivors do art therapy with local art instructor Bridget Gusso at The Grand for Arts and Culture during a ReLight Retreat in May. Programs such as this are funded by large fundraisers like the gala.
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NEW ULM -- Breast Cancer support organization B the Light is hosting their annual Illuminate Hope Gala at the Royal Oak Event Center Friday, Oktober 27.
This is the third year B the Light has put on this gala. After the first version was hosted in 2019 at the Sleepy Eye Event Center, 2020 and 2021 versions were held virtually due to the COVID pandemic. Last year was their comeback and a move to the Royal Oak Event Center, which B the Light founder Amber Melby said was easy to choose.
"It can hold enough of us," she said. "We needed a bigger space. Last year we had almost 400 guests and we’re planning on something similar this year. It really was just a matter of size."
Melby formed B the Light in 2016 after going through her own journey with breast cancer. The organization was inspired by Melby's aunt Brenda Pilke, who died from metastatic breast cancer in 2018. Melby said that the organization has continued to grow year after year, and is now expanding into the Mankato area. But the biggest obstacle the non-profit has had is getting the word out so everyone in Southern Minnesota knows they are not alone in their breast cancer struggles.
"There’s so many survivors that say 'we didn’t know that you were there,'" she said. With HIPAA in place, hospitals and clinics can’t refer people to us. We’ve found that most survivors are struggling with things they’re going through. I was doing the same thing and there was nothing I could do. Survivors are struggling on their own. They’re not always open to understanding 'This is something I actually need and I’m going to take the time to go to.' Spreading the message that we’re here [is vital]."
The gala serves as an opportunity to fundraise for people who have gone through and are currently fighting breast cancer. Melby said there are plenty of fun events to explore during the gala.
"We have a silent and live auction," she said. "We do a game called Heads or Tails where guests can buy beads and at the end play the game for a chance to win a prize. We have a big, long, pink carpet similar to the red carpet you see at award shows guests can walk and stand in front of a big screen with our B the Light logo on it and take have their photo taken. We have something new this year called gray duck glam booth that’ll be there. That’s a fun, different experience as far as getting guests getting their photos taken."
A winner of the group's Hope Getaways program will also be chosen. The program, similar to Make-A-Wish, sends someone on the getaway they wish for thanks to donations from the live auction. Last years winner was survivor Sarah Schultz, using the opportunity to climb Rainbow Mountain in Peru with her husband.
The event will feature a speaker from Mankato named Crystal Dubbelde. Melby said they had multiple speakers last year, but wanted to put a different focus on for the gala this year.
"it’ll be her story but also from the perspective of other people in her life. Her husband, a few of her friends, and her two kids are in it. [They'll be] speaking about her breast cancer journey and the difference it made once she started getting involved in the B the Light programs. How that transformed her journey from feeling like she had people to talk to, feeling like she wasn’t alone and helping her navigate through what every breast cancer survivor goes through. For myself, I didn’t have groups like that available at the time because we didn’t have anything like this."
Tickets are $125, with sales closing on Wednesday. A ticket includes a five-course meal, coffee, water, wine, pink champagne when you walk in, and a full service bar. To buy a ticket, donate to the cause, or learn more information, visit https://www.bthelightinfo.org/