Press Release
2026-04-29
CancerCare®'s 2026 National Gala Raises More Than $1 Million to Support People Affected By Cancer
CancerCare® announced that its 2026 National Gala, held April 21 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan, raised more than $1 million to support the organization’s free emotional, practical, and financial services for people affected by cancer.
The event honored BioNTech with the Dorothy Schachne Corporate Achievement Award in recognition of the company’s support for people affected by cancer. Richard Gaynor, President of Research and Development at BioNTech, accepted the award on the company’s behalf.
“We were proud to honor BioNTech at this year’s gala and are deeply grateful for its partnership,” said Christine Verini, CEO of CancerCare. “We also thank the many donors, sponsors and supporters whose generosity made the evening such a success. Their commitment helps CancerCare provide free, essential services to people affected by cancer nationwide.”
CancerCare also extends its gratitude to 2026 Gala Chair Susan Smirnoff; Auction Co-Chairs Joan Brower and Marsha Palanci; and Gala Committee members Annette Alvarez Pizzo, Paul M. Friedman, Kay Hsu, Ellen Negrin, Michael Parisi, Harvey Shapiro, Eleanor Sigona, and Burt and Susan Zweigenhaft.
This year’s gala was made possible through the generous support of its sponsors. The Schachne family and BioNTech served as presenting sponsors. Leadership sponsors included Collection XiiX, Kay Hsu and Anthony Zaret, and the Lauber-Palanci family. Mastercard served as auction sponsor and premier payment partner. Gold sponsors included Gilead, J&J, Merck, Lori and Michael Parisi, Pfizer, PhRMA, and Susan Smirnoff and Kirk Zachary.
Learn more about CancerCare’s National Gala.
About CancerCare®
For over 80 years, CancerCare has empowered millions of people affected by cancer through free counseling, support groups, educational resources, advocacy and financial assistance. Our oncology social workers improve the lives of people diagnosed with cancer, caregivers, survivors and the bereaved by addressing their emotional, practical and financial challenges. To learn more, visit www.cancercare.org.
About BioNTech
Biopharmaceutical New Technologies (BioNTech) is a global next generation immunotherapy company pioneering novel investigative therapies for cancer and other serious diseases. BioNTech exploits a wide array of computational discovery and therapeutic modalities with the intent of rapid development of novel biopharmaceuticals. Its diversified portfolio of oncology product candidates aiming to address the full continuum of cancer includes mRNA cancer immunotherapies, next-generation immunomodulators and targeted therapies such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and innovative chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies. Based on its deep expertise in mRNA development and in-house manufacturing capabilities, BioNTech and its collaborators are researching and developing multiple mRNA vaccine candidates for a range of infectious diseases alongside its diverse oncology pipeline. BioNTech has established a broad set of relationships with multiple global and specialized pharmaceutical collaborators, including Bristol Myers Squibb, Duality Biologics, Fosun Pharma, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, Genmab, MediLink, OncoC4, Pfizer and Regeneron.