The Gilda Gala, the annual event organized by the Los Angeles Cancer Support Community to benefit its free services for cancer patients and their families, this year presents actress and author Annabelle Gurwitch with its highest honor.
Gurwitch will receive the Gilda Award at the May 28 event, which will be held at The London West Hollywood and hosted by actor Jason Kravits. The honor was named after Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner, who used the services of the Los Angeles Cancer Support Society when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the 1980s. peer SNL Alum Laraine Newman will make a special appearance at the ceremony to present the award to Gurwitch, who was diagnosed with stage IV NSCLC lung cancer in 2020.
Gurwitch became an advocate in the years that followed, chronicling her experiences needing support and entering counseling in her best-selling book. The end of my life is killing me. She shared her story on the Unexpected Joys of Comedy and Cancer book tour this year, where she was joined by famous friends including Andie MacDowell, Bob Odenkirk, Laurie Anderson, Lisa Edelstein, and David Frankel to help spread the word about free support services for both patients and caregivers.
“Free services, which are important to our community — who have been exposed to fires, benefit cuts at the federal levels and industry decline — need funding, so this evening of celebration and fundraising feels especially meaningful this year,” Gurwitch said in a statement.
Also at this event, CSCLA will honor Scott A. Irwin, MD, PhD, director of the Patient and Family Support Program at Cedars-Sinai Cancer; Ashraf Al Sayegh, MD, FCCP, FAASM, medical director of the Pulmonary Disaster Relief Clinic at Providence Saint John’s Health; and Battalion Chief Aaron Guggenheim, Los Angeles Fire Department health division chief.
Cancer Support Community of Los Angeles is the founding affiliate of a global not-for-profit network of more than 200 locations across 50 markets of Cancer Support Communities, Gilda’s Club Centers and Healthcare Partnerships. Combined with a toll-free helpline, digital services, and educational materials, CSC/GCs provide more than $50 million in free support services to patients and their loved ones each year.
