The Mount Sinai Health System, along with the UN Chamber Music Society at the United Nations and members of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, partnered to host a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday, January 15, in support of the Helen Sawaya Fund at Mount Sinai West, a philanthropy program whose mission is to enhance the experience of cancer patients through art, music, reflexology, and more.
The fund was established in 2005 by Gabriel A. Sara, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and his friend from high school, Fuad Sawaya, in memory of Mr. Sawaya’s wife, Helen, who had been a cancer patient at Mount Sinai West.
Says Dr. Sara, “Our program addresses the emotional component of the disease and helps alleviate the stress of treatment. It has had an unbelievable impact on patients’ lives and on staff experience. Art and music, especially, reach us where words cannot.”