Cristina Lewis and Alejandra Lippolis at the Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute. The background is from last year’s fundraising luncheon; this year’s is Oct. 18.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Sallie James
Although breast cancer has spared both their families, best friends Cristina Lewis and Alejandra Lippolis wanted to do something to help find a cure.
The two mothers recently combined forces to chair the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation’s Go Pink Challenge, a year-round initiative to raise money for research and to draw attention to prevention. The challenge culminates with the Go Pink Luncheon on Oct. 18 at The Boca Raton.
“Women who are in the highest age-range risk are between 45 and 55 years old, which is my age range,” said Lewis, who is 44. “I am starting to see a lot of friends being diagnosed, being treated and surviving. It’s hitting close to home.” She said they want to bring attention to the Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute, “where all the funds get funneled.”
For anyone who has had experience with the disease, the words “breast cancer” can evoke paralyzing fear.
Take the case of Beverly Hills, 90210 star Shannen Doherty, whose death at age 53 on July 13 made national headlines. Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and went into remission in 2017. But the cancer recurred with a vengeance in 2020.
“Cancer does not discriminate. It can affect anyone. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what (kind of cancer) you have, your health can be taken away,” said Lippolis, 47.
Lippolis’ interest in breast cancer prevention and research is a bit of a family affair. Her mother-in-law, Debbie Lindstrom, a Boca Raton philanthropist who has supported the hospital foundation for years, got her involved with the cause in 2011 when Lippolis attended her first Go Pink luncheon.
Lippolis began volunteering and quickly found herself involved in the luncheon committee, the fundraising ball and just about anything else the foundation needed help with. Then she enlisted the help of Lewis, and the two have volunteered together for years.
They agreed to chair the Go Pink Challenge for the next two years.
The challenge has raised $192,000 this year as of July and more than $3.3 million since its inception in 2008.
The connections between the two women are extensive: Both are Latinas (Cristina’s family hails from Venezuela and Alejandra was born in Chile).
Their husbands, Tim Lewis Jr. and Bill Lippolis, are childhood friends who grew up in Boca. And both women have three children, who are almost the same ages: Cristina and Tim have three sons: Billy, 12; Sebastian, 9; and Brayden, 5. Alejandra and Bill have three daughters: Alessandra, 10; Lily, 8; and Isabella, 5.
Bill Lippolis is the COO of Wietsma Lippolis, a Boca Raton-based construction, architecture and design company that builds luxury custom homes. Tim Lewis is a professional race car driver in International Motor Sports Association events.
Cristina Lewis is a lifelong Boca Raton resident who attended Florida Atlantic University. She has a background in human resources and has helped hospitals, clinics, private practices and other health care organizations recruit candidates to fill ophthalmic positions. She also serves on the executive board of the Parents’ Association of Pine Crest School in Boca Raton.
Lippolis grew up in Parkland and attended Lynn University, where she majored in fashion marketing. But her heart wasn’t in it and she ended up working for her father, a major distributor for Hewlett Packard in Central and South America. She held the job until she got pregnant with her first child in 2011.
The two families socialize and vacation together and even shared a vacation getaway in Central Florida for a time until their expanding families made it too crowded.
“We have different things we can bring” to the Go Pink Challenge, “so it just works out perfectly,” Lippolis said.
The Go Pink Luncheon is South Florida’s premier breast cancer awareness event; proceeds directly benefit the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute and Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute. Call Terrie Mooney at 561-955-6634 for more information.
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