Devone Poinsette-Baldwin’s (left) Pink Carpet Ball honored Dr. Vondalyn Wright, CEO of Fight Wright Foundation, Inc. (right), for her dedication to educating, empowering, and engaging women with breast cancer and the families supporting them.
BY KARIN DAVIS-THOMPSON, Staff Writer
TAMPA — After Devone Poinsette-Baldwin began to see many of his family members and friends battling breast cancer, he knew he had to do something.
“I wanted to find a way to give back and help,” Poinsette-Baldwin said. “So many women around me were battling a disease.”
In 2018, he founded the Pink Carpet Ball to honor women who have battled breast cancer, providing them a night to celebrate their resilience and spirit. Sponsored by Poinsette-Baldwin’s organization, the Bay Area Team of Professionals Alliance (BATOPA), the nonprofit’s mission is to provide assistance and bring awareness to important causes, missions, and organizations in the Tampa Bay area.
This year’s event was held at the Westshore Grand Hotel in Tampa and included a cocktail hour, music, food, and a crown for every woman in attendance battling the disease.
“We just want to be a help wherever we can,” Poinsette-Baldwin stated.
This year’s Pink Carpet Ball was held at the Westshore Grand Hotel in Tampa and included a cocktail hour, music, food, and a crown for every woman in attendance battling the disease.
Proceeds from the Pink Carpet Ball benefit Lisa’s Pink Petals of Hope, a Tampa Bay organization dedicated to supporting and assisting women fighting breast cancer.
“There are so many smaller organizations making a difference that need funding,” he said. “I heard about this nonprofit and looked into what it was all about, and we decided it was a great organization to support.”
Lisa’s Pink Petals of Hope was founded in 2014 in memory of Lisa Marie Sands-Minnifield, diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011. After realizing there was not a strong level of support and information for women, Sands-Minnifield began sharing the information she was able to research and obtain on everything from surgical options to garments that are comfortable and beneficial after surgery.
Sands-Minnifield fought long and hard but died in April 2013, two years after her diagnosis.
Each year the organization also honors a woman as Survivor of the Year, an honor to encourage a woman who has bravely fought the disease. This year’s recipient was Dr. Vondalyn Wright, a pharmacist and CEO of Fight Wright Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to educating, empowering. and engaging women with breast cancer and the families supporting them.
“We go by nominations. Individuals give us names, and we listen to their stories. Honestly, when it touches your heart, you know,” Poinsette-Baldwin said. “That’s how it was with Dr. Wright; we heard her story, and it touched all of us. And she rang the bell about two weeks before the ball.”
Ringing the bell is a symbolic gesture. Cancer survivors in remission get the opportunity to ring the bell and celebrate beating cancer.
Nearly 300 people attended the ball and were treated to a packed program complete with dinner, dancing, a DJ and live entertainment.
Poinsette-Baldwin said that while he loves the event, he often can’t enjoy it until it’s over.
“It’s a lot to plan,” he said. “But it always makes me feel good when women who have been battling cancer who attended the event tell me how much it meant to them. That’s when I know it was all worth it.”
For more information on BATOPA and how you can participate with the organization, go to www.BATOPA.com.
Devone Poinsette-Baldwin’s (left) Pink Carpet Ball honored Dr. Vondalyn Wright, CEO of Fight Wright Foundation, Inc. (right), for her dedication to educating, empowering, and engaging women with breast cancer and the families supporting them.
