![\"(Photo](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/50th-cake.jpg\")
<\/a>Retiring Medical Director Dr. Katharin Sheehan, a Del Mar, Calif. resident who first joined the local affiliate as medical director in 1981 when it was still called Planned Parenthood of San Diego & Riverside counties, will be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award. Sheehan is a graduate of Wellesley College and Loyola University\u2019s Stritch School of Medicine and has held the title of medical director for her entire 32-year tenure with the affiliate.<\/p>\n
Also long identified as a leader within the national organization, local organizers said the PPPSW affiliate and its patients have \u201cbenefitted enormously\u201d from Sheehan\u2019s commitment to reproductive health.<\/p>\n
Three keynote speakers \u2013 Sarah Weddington, Cecile Richards and Jessica Valenti \u2013 will share the stage to top off the evening. Weddington was the winning attorney for Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark ruling that made abortion legal in all 50 states. Richards is the current President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Valenti writes for The Nation and is founder of feministing.com.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey represent the past, present and future of feminism,\u201d said Jennifer Coburn, director of communications and marketing for PPPSW.<\/p>\n
According to Planned Parenthood\u2019s website, they are \u201cthe nation\u2019s leading sexual and reproductive health care provider and advocate. \u2026 [working] to improve women\u2019s health and safety, prevent unintended pregnancies, and advance the right and ability of individuals and families to make informed and responsible choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
The development team of PPPW, which supports San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties in this same mission, has been hard at work all year on the event, said Mary Veta, one of the event\u2019s organizers and a 30-year employee of PPPSW.<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s fundraising dinner, also at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, raised $1.2 million for the organization and with an annual operating budget of $56 million, Coburn said they hope to top that fundraising number this year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been an honor to serve the San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties for fifty years and we\u2019re looking forward to doing even more in the next 50,\u201d Coburn said. \u201cIn the next few years we hope to have some help centers in Imperial Valley and expand our scope of services. We are really excited about the Affordable Health Care act and so many people having access to health care next year.\u201d<\/p>\n Coburn said Planned Parenthood has also been a staunch political and social ally of the LGBT community.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m the chair of the LGBT Task Force here and we\u2019re really working hard to promote the importance of having cervical cancer screenings for lesbian women, because so many women feel that they don\u2019t need a pap smear because they\u2019re not having sex with men,\u201d Coburn said.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the other things we\u2019ve been doing is really trying to reach out and show why we are relevant to the LGBT community,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are one of the largest providers of testing and treatment for STDs in San Diego County. We do rapid HIV testing and anyone who needs a condom or a dental dam can come to Planned Parenthood and get these products at no cost.\u201d<\/p>\n Event chairs of 50 Years Strong are Nora Taylor Jaffe and Kathleen L. Strauss, Ph.D., with honorary chairs including, K. Andrew Achterkirchen, Joan Jordan Bernstein, Susanna and Michael Flaster, PPPSW Board Chair R. Elaine Hanson, M.D. and her husband Bruce Robbins, M.D., Rosanne and Joel Holliday, Nora Taylor Jaffe, and Christy Walton. The Strauss Family Foundation will be offering a $50,000 matching gift challenge at the event.<\/p>\n Entertainment at the dinner will be provided by the Blue Breeze Band, a Motown-tribute band chosen in keeping with the retro theme of the evening, a nod to the organization\u2019s 1963 beginning, Veta said.<\/p>\n Hilton San Diego Bayfront is located at 1 Park Blvd., Downtown, just south of the Convention Center. Attendees can access the hotel\u2019s driveway and parking structure from Harbor Drive. Individual tickets start at $150., with tables of 10 starting at $1,500. For more information about the anniversary dinner or to purchase tickets, visit planned.org\/dinner<\/a>. Those unable to attend are encouraged to make a donation at supportplannedparenthood.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Local affiliate sees a half a century of service at their annual gala Morgan M. Hurley | Downtown News Editor The local affiliate of Planned Parenthood is turning 50 this year and organizers hope you will celebrate with them on May 9 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel. Doubling as the annual fundraising dinner […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":236155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Planned Parenthood: 50 years strong","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>