Arbella employees team up with the Arbella Insurance Foundation for a day-long fundraiser benefiting Dana-Farber’s Community Benefits Program
For the fifteenth-consecutive year, Arbella employees have joined forces with the Arbella Insurance Foundation to raise funds to provide cancer screenings and education for medically underserved populations through the work of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Arbella employees raised more than $24,000 at the annual Pink Day event, held on Oct. 4th. Those funds were matched by the Arbella Insurance Foundation for a total donation of $50,000.
“This Pink Day was very special because it is Arbella’s 15th Pink Day celebration. Our employees are a true inspiration who rally around a cause that has impacted the lives of many of our employees and their families”, said John Donohue, chairman, president, and CEO of the Arbella Insurance Group and chairman and president of the Arbella Insurance Foundation. “We are proud to support Dana-Farber and its outstanding services to advance prevention, detection and treatment for cancer. It’s an honor to have such an advanced and influential cancer institute right here in our neighborhoods.”
This year, Arbella was honored to welcome Dana-Farber patient Michelle O’Brien to Pink Day, which takes place at the Arbella headquarters in Quincy. In 2020, O’Brien faced a double diagnosis of breast cancer and endometrial cancer during the height of the pandemic. A dedicated team of Dana-Farber doctors swiftly collaborated to guide her treatment decisions. After a two-and-a-half-year journey, O’Brien successfully completed her treatments in July with Dana-Farber’s unwavering support.
“It’s not just about medical treatment at Dana-Farber; it’s also about your mental well-being. Doctors there were not only focused on treatment and research but also on how to support me as a person during my cancer treatment, especially during the challenging times of COVID,” said O’Brien.
During the all-day fundraiser, Arbella employees dressed in pink and purchased Pink Day t-shirts, the proceeds of which were all donated to Dana-Farber. Each company department created baskets made with employee donations and raffled them off for additional fundraising, which was matched by Arbella’s Foundation.
Magnolia Contreras, MSW, MBA, Vice President of Community Health at Dana-Farber, also joined Pink Day to thank employees for their continued support and generosity.
“Arbella’s Pink Day support has been instrumental in expanding the breadth of Dana-Farber’s community outreach programs over the past fifteen years,” said Contreras. “The generous support from the employees and Arbella’s Foundation allows us to bring life-saving cancer detection and prevention resources to people across Massachusetts. We are enormously grateful.”
Arbella has supported Dana-Farber’s Community Mobile Benefits program, especially funding the Blum Family Resource Center Van, which promotes sun safety, and Dana-Farber’s Mammography Van. To date, Arbella’s Pink Day has raised more than $537,286 for cancer awareness and screening. As the only mobile mammography program in Massachusetts, Dana-Farber’s Mammography Van provides free mammograms and breast health education to medically eligible women aged 40 years and older. The Mammography Van partners with community-based organizations and neighborhood health centers in its mission to decrease breast cancer morbidity and mortality among medically underserved women and increase survival rates for those diagnosed with breast cancer. During the last fiscal year, the mammography program served approximately 1,200 individuals.
