Fundraising efforts for the Pink Ribbon Project will continue into the New Year, as the program’s cocktail celebration, which was postponed because of Hurricane Matthew in October, has been rescheduled for March 17 at the Hilton Wilmington Riverside.

The event will feature local celebrity and Pink Ribbon Project community champion Meg Caswell. Caswell is a Wilmington-based interior designer, style personality, TV host and winner of HGTV’s Design Star.

Caswell will speak about breast cancer awareness and her Pink Ribbon Project connection. Live entertainment, food and a silent auction will be provided.

Tickets to the cocktail celebration may be purchased online at nhrmcfoundation.org or by calling the NHRMC Foundation at 667-5002.

The New Hanover Regional Medical Center Foundation’s breast cancer awareness events that did take place as scheduled in October raised more than $210,000 to support NHRMC Foundation’s efforts to provide free mammograms and diagnostic services to underserved women and comfort bags to newly diagnosed cancer patients.

Renee Mangum, special events and community partnerships manager for the NHRMC Foundation, said the Pink Ribbon Luncheon and 18 other events in the region “were a great success.”

“Our community continues to show its generosity and support for the incredible services and high-quality care New Hanover Regional Medical Center offers to those impacted by breast cancer,” Mangum said in a news release.

Since 1998, Pink Ribbon Project events, community partnerships and donations have raised more than $2.1 million and provided over 6,900 comfort bags to area women as they undergo treatment for cancer.

The bags contain items that range from the practical to the inspirational.

The Pink Ribbon Project also funds mammography screenings for women in the region who do not have health insurance or financial resources and follow-up diagnostic procedures for women who receive a suspect mammography result.