Pink Pony is Ralph Lauren’s worldwide initiative in the fight against cancer. Our mission is to reduce disparities in cancer care and ensure that access to quality treatment is available to everyone at an earlier, more curable stage.
In the United States, at least 25% of the purchase price of Pink Pony apparel and accessories benefits the Pink Pony Fund of The Polo Ralph Lauren Foundation, which supports programs for education, research, treatment, patient navigation and prevention.
Globally, an international network of local charities benefits from the sales of Pink Pony products.
In 2005, the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care (RLCCC) was established in partnership with the nation’s leading cancer center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in New York City. The Ralph Lauren Center, the only outpatient facility of its kind in Harlem, is an independent 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides high quality, compassionate cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment to all—regardless of personal circumstances. Every year, the Ralph Lauren Center treats over 4,000 patients and reaches over 3,000 community members with risk reduction education.
Specialists at the Ralph Lauren Center make treatment possible for a wide range of cancers, and all patients have access to additional on-site services including psychotherapy and pain management, as well as treatment of rare cancers through referrals to Memorial Sloan Kettering and other hospitals. The Ralph Lauren Center provides cancer prevention education and health information to the Harlem community and beyond, and works diligently to effect reform in national healthcare policy, focusing especially on changes in reimbursement for those that provide care to minority, low income and underinsured patients.
One of the cornerstones of the Ralph Lauren Center is the patient navigation program pioneered by Dr. Harold Freeman, Founder of the Ralph Lauren Center. Under the current CEO, Dr. Gina Villani, the Ralph Lauren Center has expanded its navigation efforts to include clinical nurse navigators, who assist patients from the time of diagnosis through survivorship. Nurse navigators provide much needed education, referrals and support with the goal of reducing hospitalizations, increasing treatment compliance and completion and enhancing quality of life and survivorship, ultimately reducing disparities in care and improving treatment outcomes.
The Ralph Lauren Center is an extension of Ralph Lauren’s ongoing commitment to cancer research and care. More than 20 years ago, after his close friend and Washington Post fashion editor, Nina Hyde, was diagnosed with breast cancer, Ralph Lauren made a commitment to focus his philanthropic efforts on improving care for this devastating disease. In 1990, he co-founded the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research at Georgetown University Medical Center and in 1994, he led the fashion industry in its support of breast cancer research by working with the Council of Fashion Designers of America to launch Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, a charitable initiative that focuses on raising public awareness and funds for the breast cancer cause. In 2014, Ralph Lauren partnered with The Royal Marsden, the largest and most comprehensive cancer center in Europe, to fund a state-of-the-art breast cancer research facility called The Ralph Lauren Centre for Breast Cancer Research.
The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care
1919 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10035
(212) 987-1777
Ralph Lauren has been committed to the fight against cancer for more than 20 years.
Long recognized for his early leadership in the fight against breast cancer, Ralph Lauren, made a personal and corporate commitment to finding a cure for this disease. In the late 1980s, he was moved to respond when close friend and Washington Post fashion editor Nina Hyde shared her breast cancer diagnosis with him. As a tribute to that friendship, in 1989, he co-founded together with Katherine Graham, late Washington Post company president, the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research at Georgetown University. "Breast Cancer is not just a women's issue," says Lauren. "It affects all of us – the husbands, fathers, brothers, children and friends of the women dealing with this dreaded disease."
His vision helped mobilize the fashion industry to take a stand against breast cancer. He designed the first logo for the Council of Fashion Designers of Americas successful "Fashion Targets Breast Cancer" international awareness campaign. Continuing his efforts, in 2000, he designated his classic icon in pink to the Pink Pony Campaign, a worldwide initiative in the fight against cancer. Pink Pony supports programs for screening, early diagnosis, treatment, education and patient navigation with the mission is to reduce disparities in cancer care and ensure that access to quality treatment is available to everyone at an earlier, more curable stage.
There is always more to learn about in the war against cancer. Arm yourself with the latest information offered at these helpful websites:
www.ralphlaurencenter.org
The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention is a community based Center for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through new models of patient care, research, education and outreach designed to address the unique needs of the community. The Center, made possible by a generous gift from the Ralph Lauren Corporation, is a partnership with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
www.mskcc.org
Since 1884, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has been dedicated to improving the understanding and treatment of cancer. Their dedicated team of professionals is committed to providing the best cancer care possible. Find out everything about this leading cancer care center on their website.
www.cancer.org
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well be preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; and by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass law to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation's largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.5 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it would be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org
www.komen.org
The Susan G. Komen Foundation is dedicated to eradicating breast cancer as a life-threatening disease though advancing research, education, screening and treatment. On their website, find cancer news, information, survivors' stories and tools, including videos about breast self-examination.
www.bcrfcure.org
This is the first and largest organization dedicated solely to clinical and / or genetic research in breast cancer. The mission of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® is to achieve prevention and a cure for breast cancer in our lifetime by providing critical funding for innovative clinical and translational research at leading medical centers worldwide, and increasing public awareness about good breast health. Currently, over 90 cents of every dollar donated goes to breast cancer research and awareness programs.
www.nci.nih.gov
The National Cancer Institute coordinates the National Cancer Program, which conducts and supports research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, rehabilitation from cancer, and the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients. This government site of the National Cancer Program presents information on all kinds of cancer.
Bette-Ann Gwathmey (212) 318-7275
