Proceeds Also Aid Daughter’s Education
Friends and relatives of a Glendale woman battling an advanced stage of breast cancer will gather at a neighborhood pub this Saturday night, Jan. 28, for a fund-raiser to help pay her medical bills and her eight-year-old daughter’s education.
As announced, the event benefitting Eileen Collins DiBenedetto will be held beginning at 7 p.m. at Yermans Irish Pub, located at 70-26 88th St. All are invited to take part in the fund-raiser, which will include prize auctions.
DiBenedetto’s sister, Kathy Toal, noted that the 47-year-old resident is battling stage-four breast cancer for the last two years. Though she received a clean bill of health months ago, doctors learned days later that the cancer had metastasized to her lung and liver.
“It’s been an uphill battle to say the least,” Toal told the Times Newsweekly in a phone interview, noting that DiBenedetto had outlived her physician’s initial prognosis that she had only six months to live.
Alife-long resident of Middle Village and Glendale, DiBenedetto was very active in events at Sacred Heart School before receiving her most recent diagnosis. Toal noted that DiBenedetto took part in various Christmas and Easter celebrations for children, including dressing up in costume to entertain the children.
While battling cancer, DiBenedetto and her relatives has been doing her best to raise her eight year old daughter, Crystal, a student at Sacred Heart School. Toal stated that the family has stuck together throughout DiBenedetto’s battle, but noted that the situation has been difficult.
“As a family, we’re trying to cover the other gaps, but that’s defi- nitely going to challenging,” she said.
Organized by Susan Keller- Weissmeier and Lori Donaldson, the fund-raiser event will feature a Chinese auction and raffles of gift baskets, with all proceeds going to the DiBenedetto family. Dorie Figliola, a representative of Assemblyman Mike Miller, added that Yerman’s is also making a contribution toward the event.
For more information, visit the event’s Facebook event by searching for the “Fund Raiser for Eileen Collins DiBenedetto.”
