Rose Zimmer was named the 2014 Pink Ribbon Angel Award recipient by New Hanover Regional Medical Center Foundation in recognition of her “generous support and commitment to The Pink Ribbon Project,” the medical center announced recently.

“Rose, her husband Alan and the Zimmer family have been generous supporters of NHRMC for many years, contributing to many patient care areas of the hospital, including a significant gift to the original Zimmer Cancer Center building campaign,” a news release from NHRMC stated.  “For the past 16 years, Rose has been a sponsor of The Pink Ribbon Luncheon and an advocate for breast cancer awareness.”

“Whether you’ve gone through it or it has affected someone you know, everyone has been touched by cancer,” Zimmer said in the release. “I believe that in order to have a vital community, you must have a vital hospital. Our community should be proud of the care that residents in Wilmington and the surrounding areas can get right here.”

She was honored at The Pink Ribbon Luncheon on Oct. 2. Proceeds from the luncheon and a Nov. 1 Pink Ribbon Celebration Cocktail Party will support free mammograms and diagnostics for women without insurance or resources to pay for them, Comfort Bags to women newly diagnosed with cancer, and the Healing Arts program at NHRMC to provide complementary therapies such as massage, art and music therapies, according to the release.

Since 1998, Pink Ribbon events, community partnerships and donations have raised more than $1.9 million and provided more than 6,000 Comfort Bags to area women as they undergo treatment for cancer. The Pink Ribbon Project also funds mammography screenings for women in the Wilmington area who do not have health insurance or financial resources, and follow-up diagnostic procedures for women who receive a suspect mammography result, the release stated.