6th Annual Lime Light Gala Co-Chairs Share Hart & Soul Connection

PHILADELPHIA – Lauren Hart and Jessy Kyle share a very special bond.  While they are both national recording artists, best known for belting out The Star-Spangled Banner, O Canada and God Bless America at Philadelphia sporting events, they are both cancer survivors.  While simultaneously battling cancer Hart and Kyle actually peer mentored one another and have continued to stay close friends ever since.  On March 11th the pair will be co-hosting the 6th Annual Lime Light Gala benefitting the HEADstrong Foundation at the Hilton Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing.

“I read in the newspaper that Lauren was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma so I reached out to the Flyers to send her a message.  We were put in touch and we started talking on the phone while she was undergoing treatment.  Then she was declared cancer-free and then my cancer came back less than three months later.  Lauren came to a benefit that friends held for me when I was sick in 2000.” said Jessy Kyle

Hart was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 1999, just months after losing her father, beloved father, legendary Philadelphia Flyers broadcaster Gene Hart.  Hart was given a 50/50 chance of survival at the time of her diagnosis and her courageous fight and public battle has inspired thousands.  Today, she is an accomplished singer/songwriter, the adored National Anthemist for the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team, a television host and personality; a dynamic inspirational speaker, the wife of a coffee magnate and world-class adventurer, the mother of four adopted children from Ethiopia, and a humanitarian.  Lauren is a peer counselor for cancer patients, and has served as the spokesperson for Penn Medicine’s cancer program at Kennedy Hospital. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Pennsylvania Hospital Cancer Center.  In 2014, Lauren served as an emcee for the HEADstrong Foundation’s Lime Light Gala and has since gotten more involved with the organization, being named co-chair of the event in 2016.

Jessy Kyle is a Philadelphia based jazz/soul singer, songwriter and pianist.  She is also a 3-time survivor of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.   Jessy has performed at such venues as the Wachovia Center, Veteran’s Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, The Spectrum, Citizens Bank Arena, The Philadelphia Convention Center, Madison Square Garden, and the White House.    After experiencing the generosity of the HEADstrong Foundation while undergoing inpatient care in November 2009, Kyle was inspired to get involved with the cause.  Today, Kyle spearheads the organization’s HEAD2head peer support network and patient advocacy committee and has been named co-chair of the Lime Light Gala in 2016.

The 6th Annual Lime Light Gala event will be held at the Hilton Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing located at 201 South Columbus Boulevard from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m.   Tickets are now available for $250 each with special pricing for tables of 10 and guests ages 15 -20.  Click here, for event details. Tickets are subject to limited availability.

Proceeds from the Lime Light Gala will support the expansion of Nick’s House™, a facility operated by the HEADstrong Foundation™ which provides complimentary extended lodging to families traveling to Philadelphia for cancer related treatment as well as the Nicholas E. Colleluori Lymphoma Research Fund at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania under the direction of Stephen J. Schuster, MD.

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