DOWNTOWN — Anthology will turn a shade of pink for breast cancer later this month. The downtown venue will host Step it Up For Pink on Thursday, Nov. 18, a night of music and fun on the eve of the annual San Diego 3-Day for the Cure walk. “It’s going to be super fun. It’s really just a dance party,” said Laura Farmer Sherman, executive director for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, San Diego. “It is a celebration of life and the people who have fought breast cancer, and to honor the people who didn’t make it.” Dancing queens will have their day at Step it Up For Pink, with ABBA tribute group Abba Fab headlining the event. Other highlights include guest bartenders and a pink gift boutique. “We were discussing what we could do to put on an event together and all make an impact and create an event that would be memorable, fun and worthwhile,” said Marsha Berkson, owner of Anthology. Proceeds from Step it Up For Pink benefit Komen for the Cure San Diego, whose main aim is to help fund mammograms for local women. The goal of the event is to raise enough money to cover the cost of 200 mammograms. “The only way to catch breast cancer in its earliest stage is through a mammogram every year after you’re 40. But if you can’t afford it, you can’t get it,” Farmer Sherman said. “That means that poor women are showing up at late stage diagnosis because they can’t get it.” Farmer Sherman is a breast cancer survivor who has a keen understanding of the importance of a mammogram. After finding a 10-centimeter lump, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 43 — without ever having a mammogram. “I thought you had to have cancer in your family in order to be worried about it or to get it,” Farmer Sherman said. “But I found out the hard way that I had all the risk factors and didn’t even know it.” Then working at Sempra Energy, Farmer Sherman was taken aback at a chemotherapy treatment group after discovering she was the only person in the group with health insurance. After that, she elected to quit her job and work full time at Susan G. Komen for the Cure, where she has worked for the past three years. “I promised that I would try to do something about it if I lived, and so I did,” Farmer Sherman said. “We raise money through events and all of that money funds uninsured women. It goes to help a woman who is literally choosing between rent and chemotherapy.” Berkson has also been personally affected by breast cancer. She lost her mother to breast cancer seven years ago. “She delayed her mammogram and didn’t go and, unfortunately, when it was diagnosed it was in a very late stage,” Berkson said. “If we can get women at an early stage, then there’s a greater chance for cure.” The event begins at 5:30 p.m. at Anthology, 1337 India St., and tickets start at $30. For tickets and more information, visit www.anthologysd.com or call (619) 595-0300. “Breast cancer is something that is near and dear to every woman’s heart,” Berkson said.
