Fighting Chance Assists Cancer Patients with Community, Compassion

With over two decades of dedication, the Sag Harbor-based nonprofit Fighting Chance strives to continuously evolve to provide free counseling services to cancer patients at the annual Cocktails for a Cause event.

To help fund its mission on the East End, the organization will host the event at Maidstone Club’s Tennis House in East Hampton, a long-standing companion of the organization, on Saturday, July 13 from 6–8 p.m.

“We have been hosting our summer gala fundraising event for 22 years now,” says Duncan Darrow, founder and chairman of the nonprofit. “It is a tradition for Fighting Chance and a very important source of our annual revenue.”

Fighting Chance’s countless hours providing free services to cancer patients on the East End are made possible through this event and other hard-earned accreditations.

“In 2023, we provided 968 hours of free counseling services for cancer patients and 450 Hampton Jitney tickets for patients to go in and out of the city for treatment, mostly to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,” says Darrow. “We have also arranged 403 Hometown Taxi rides in 2023 to transport our patients from their East End homes to doctor offices and back.”

The organization has seen tremendous growth since launching 22 years ago, when their fundraising event began with each director purchasing just one table. Today, Fighting Chance has expanded its horizons to local community involvement, including their cooperative efforts with Devon Yacht Club and Maidstone Club, and opening the event to guests outside of the organization.

Darrow is hopeful to fundraise $50,000 at this year’s event, which will assist in providing free supportive services for all cancer patients on the East End: counseling for emotional distress, expert consulting to navigate the health care system, post-treatment yoga classes and transportation both locally and to New York City.

Fighting Chance is accredited by the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval and an extensive collaboration with the American Cancer Society

“The Joint Commission, an outcast of Medicare, has a small handle of non-hospital organizations that they reimburse the vast majority of money to, and we are very proud to be in that small group,” says Darrow. “We have also developed a very strong relationship with the American Cancer Society, which not many other nonprofits in Suffolk County can say the same.”

The cochairs of this year’s Cocktails for a Cause include notable members Ted Conklin, owner of The American Hotel; Susan Lacy, Emmy winner for 13 consecutive years and creator of the series American Master; Doris Meister, CEO of Wilmington Trust; Darrow’s wife Wendy Lyon Moonan and niece Meredith Darrow.

The event, sponsored by Dan’s Papers, includes a cocktail hour, sit-down dinner and a live auction featuring outstanding prizes — from golf rounds to boats.

Tickets are $325 each and can be purchased online. For more information about the event and to purchase tickets, visit app.theauxilia.com/Event/maidstone_tennis_house_cocktails_for_a_cause.