Night of Caroling and Camaraderie to Raise Awareness of Cervical Cancer

I spy with my little eye ... 20 or so of Santa's Helpers, decked out in all their elvin finery, hopping aboard their very own sleigh, departing from Just Jake's at 30 Park Street on Friday, December 10.

Well, sort of.

But indeed there will be some festive singers traveling to local "rooftops"—bars and restaurants—singing carols and delivering holiday cheer in an effort to raise money for—and awareness of—the New Jersey Chapter of the National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NJ-NCCC).

Members of the community who want to be part of the holiday fun are encouraged to visit one of the rooftops on Santa Night—a list of participating establishments is available online at Santa Night-Montclair's Web site. Participants will be visiting the restaurants and bars ("rooftops"), singing carols, and passing the Santa Sack for donations. They can't promise perfect pitch, but the Santa Night singers will try to fill each stop with holiday excitement.

Folks who can't make it out on Santa Night can still support the event by donating online. 

Indeed, the Santa Night crew has a head start in their efforts as each Helper is required to raise at least $100 in pledges to participate in this unique and amazing fundraiser. Their reward is a dozen-plus-stop caroling extravaganza aboard the Santa Night sleigh, including dinner and drinks.

Fresh off their organization of the Halloween 5K held in Montclair in October, the NJ-NCCC is looking forward to rolling out this second annual Santa Night.

With a little luck, the upcoming Santa event could raise $10,000 to fund future NJ-NCCC events.

"I believe the importance of this fundraiser is simply to raise money because without money our group couldn't function," said Sandy Fischer, the NJ-NCCC chapter press liaison. "In 2011 we plan to refocus our efforts on doing not just fundraising but education and outreach.

"One of our outreach goals is to create a Cervical Cancer Support Group at a local hospital for patients and their families," she said. "Our education goal would be to eventually host an educational/outreach event for parents of high schools students to discuss the risks of HPV, vaccinations (for both girls and boys), as well as preventing cervical cancer all together."

None of these goals can be achieved without the necessary funds, however, which is why Santa Night is so important.

The NJ-NCCC was founded by Cristina Lucchetti Ryan, a Bloomfield resident, in June 2009 in memory of her best friend, CaryAnne Cowan, a mother and lifelong New Jersey resident who lost her life to cervical cancer in 2007. Cowan had gone without a routine cervical cancer screening for nearly a decade and was only 36 when she was diagnosed with Stage IVB cervical cancer.

The primary hope of the NJ-NCCC is that through intensive educational outreach and preventative efforts, the day will come when not one more child has to lose his mother, not one more husband has to lose his wife, and not one more woman has to lose her friend to cervical cancer. Since its founding, the NJ-NCCC has attracted a handful of active members, including de facto co-director Mandy Weis, a Montclair resident.