Fran Drescher, on top

In real life and on television, Fran Drescher is Happily Divorced and thriving on the US television network TV Land. Life has to be pretty good when your “neighbours” in TV Land include the legendary Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick. While the second season of Drescher’s semi-autobiographical comedy airs new episodes in November, there is no doubt that her more serious but equally visible side—as the founder of the non-profit Cancer Schmancer—defines her persona as well as her passion for life.

During the height of all the pre-Emmys action, Drescher teamed up with Coco Eco magazine, Anna Griffin, and eco-marketing expert Nicole Landers to launch Cancer Schmancer’s Trash Cancer campaign to shift the public’s paradigm of cancer charities from finding or searching for a cure to education, prevention and early detection.

The event was, appropriately enough, staged in a penthouse inside the LEED-certified W Hollywood’s residential building and fuelled by inspirational, ultra-healthy cuisine from Eatz (a West Hollywood cooking school). The event drew several of Drescher’s co-stars (Tichina Arnold, Thierre di Castro) as well as other names such as James Kyson (Heroes), Anne Heche, Tia Mowry, Nia Peeples (Pretty Little Liars), Kim Poirer (Mad Men), Nene Leakes (The New Normal, Glee), Edwina Findley (Treme), Wesley Jonathan (The Soul Man) Vanessa Bell Callaway (Hawthorne) Chelsea Travares (Make it or Break it), LA designer Kevan Hall, the l’Esperance interior design team, Glyne Turman and Lawrence Hilton Jacobs among others.

Prior to the evening festivities, celebrities and select press were invited to enjoy a “give back”-themed Emmy suite in the hotel. The suite—featuring Previse Skincare, My Paper Bag purses, Spray di Solé (a brush-on tanning bronzer), Got Wheatgrass, Red Elixir, Eco Swim, Pillo 1 orthopædic bedding, Earth Friendly cleaning products and Dahlia McPhee dresses—set the stage for the launch of the Trash Cancer campaign, which according to Susan Holland, vice-president of Cancer Schmancer, which focuses more on prevention and good lifestyle decisions.

The Cancer Schmancer organization, and by extension, the Trash Cancer campaign underscore statistics that project one of three women and one in two men will be diagnosed with cancer. With that in mind, the goal of the campaign is to make the public understand early detection and an eco-friendly lifestyle can bring about a 90 per cent survival rate. The message is that if we empower loved ones and ourselves to be medical consumers, and listen to their bodies, ask the right questions of doctors, and seek second opinions, cancer can be prevented or addressed in a more efficient way with a better outcome.

For more information, visit www.cancerschmancer.org/trashcancer. •

The Cancer Schmancer organization, and by extension, the Trash Cancer campaign underscore statistics that project one of three women and one in two men will be diagnosed with cancer

Elyse Glickman is US west coast editor of Lucire. Cheri Fox is a correspondent for Lucire.

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