Pink Runway will mark its 15th year at a new venue, bringing its fundraiser for the Maimonides Breast Cancer Center to the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway. The event is set for October 27 from 6 to 9 p.m.; breast cancer survivors will again walk as the featured models.
A Night Built Around Survivors, Now Titled 'A Journey of Strength & Hope'
This year's event carries the theme A Journey of Strength & Hope, according to Brooklyn Paper. The Pink Runway website says participants walk to honor their journeys and promote early detection. It features Anna May Abris, Areita Guy, Cynthia Futrell, Theresa Lana and Vilma Huertas-Cymbrowitz.
The survivor-led format puts participants, rather than professional models, at the center of the show, connecting the event's runway presentation with its stated emphasis on survivorship and early detection.
Two Decades of Care Behind the Catwalk
Maimonides established its Breast Cancer Center in 2006 and describes it as Brooklyn's first fully accredited, comprehensive breast center. The organization reports about 23,000 patient visits a year and says the center treats approximately 600 women annually for breast cancer.
Patrick Borgen, chair of surgery at Maimonides Health and director of the Breast Cancer Center, is honorary chair of the 2026 event. He was named a 2026 OncLive Giant of Cancer Care.
Honorees and Fundraising Track Record
This year's Wings of Healing Award will go to Rachel Lousteau, who is also serving as a co-chair alongside Jennifer Eisenstadt, Jodi Pollack, Kathleen Sullivan and Paul Walsh. Borgen himself will receive the Breast Cancer Champion Award. Last year's 14th annual Pink Runway, held at Williamsburg's historic Weylin venue, honored Jodi Pollack with the Wings of Healing Award and reportedly raised $700,000 for new diagnostic software, according to Maimonides Health, which also introduced a second runway walk that year for survivors' treatment supporters. An earlier account from the same organization put a prior year's total at nearly $650,000, raised to expand screenings — the two figures come from different years of the event and should not be read as the same fundraising tally.
Fundraising from the 2025 show was also earmarked to increase the center's breast imaging capacity by 20%, and the hospital has said proceeds funded AI diagnostic software meant to speed up results, support radiologists and cut down screening wait times. Maimonides has said nearly 400 patients visit the Breast Cancer Center each month for screenings alone.
Free Screenings Available Through State Program
Beyond the gala, Maimonides partners with the New York State Cancer Services Program to provide free mammograms and other breast screenings for uninsured and under-insured women age 40 and older, as well as younger women considered at high risk for breast cancer. The state program more broadly provides cancer screenings and diagnostic services at no cost to eligible New Yorkers, according to the New York State Department of Health.
Local context and screening access
According to the NYC Environment & Health Data Portal, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in New York City. That citywide statistic does not establish Kings County-specific rates or answer how incidence and mortality compare by race or ethnicity. The New York State Department of Health says the Cancer Services Program provides screening and diagnostic services at no cost to residents who meet its insurance, income and age requirements. Brooklyn residents can call the program's free referral line, 1-866-442-CANCER (2262), available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for help finding a local program.
Pink Runway has taken different forms over the years. A ninth annual show featured 20 models from 13 countries, all Brooklyn residents and all breast cancer survivors or patients, according to ABC7 New York, while another past edition marked the first time the event was staged at Maimonides Park in Coney Island, per the outlet's separate report. This year marks its return to a Brooklyn cultural institution with the move to the museum.
Individual tickets for the October 27 event are priced at $500, with Guardian and VIP Guardian ticket tiers also available through the event's website, gopinkrunway.org.
