Kaleidoscope, the latest incarnation of "Frosted Pink," will take place on Monday at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. I'll cover the event for this blog. It's a special that will feature cancer survivors like Scott Hamilton, Dorothy Hamill, and Olivia Newton-John, along with other skating stars such as Johnny Weir and Rachael Flatt. Find tickets here. Kaleidoscope hopes to encourage action against cancers primarily affecting women.
The show is being taped and will air on Thanksgiving Day on Fox from 4:00 to 5:30 pm EST.
"Kaleidoscope" is a program designed to recognize women and the key role they play in the battle against cancer - as patients, caregivers, and advocates. Its mission is to address issues surrounding women and cancer by helping educate women to be proactive with their health and by honoring all cancer survivors, including the more than 713,000* women who are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States. This effort is being supported by an unprecedented collaboration with 10 nationwide advocacy partners including: American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Breast Cancer Network of Strength (BCNS), C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition (C3), Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (GCF), The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA), National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS), Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (OCNA) and the Prevent Cancer Foundation (PCF).
"As a cancer survivor, I would not have missed the opportunity to perform in 'Kaleidoscope,' which is an amazing initiative that provides a unique opportunity to help women understand cancer and how to be prepared when dealing with their health. David [Foster] and I are looking forward to performing a very powerful and moving piece of music to honor cancer survivors and motivate women to be proactive in taking care of themselves," said Newton-John.
The event was created by Edge Health's CEO Mike Burg, a survivor of Hodgkins Disease. Find out more about Edge Health here. I'm sure the event will be a success!
*UPDATED: This Chicago Tribune article states that Burg was also the catalyst for Cancer.net becoming the sponsor for Skate America:
Mike Burg, a cancer survivor who was Tara Lipinski's agent when she won the 1998 Olympic gold medal, was the catalyst for the deal that made www.cancer.net the title sponsor of Skate America. Burg brought together the American Society of Clinical Oncologists, which manages the informational web site, and U.S. Figure Skating for the one-year deal, which also will give the web site and ASCO exposure at other USFS events.