SFA Honors Katie Wintergerst with 2023 Amira Yunis Courage Award at Stand Up to Sarcoma Gala
September 6, 2023 – The Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA), an organization dedicated to increasing research and awareness for sarcoma, today announced that Katie Wintergerst of Louisville, Ky., will be the recipient of the 2023 SFA Amira Yunis Courage Award. The award presentation will be made during SFA’s Stand Up to Sarcoma Gala on September 19, 2023, in New York, N.Y. The Amira Yunis Courage Award honors patients who have demonstrated strength and perseverance in their sarcoma diagnosis.
Wintergerst was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma in her leg in February 2018. What followed was chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery to remove the tumor in October 2018. Unfortunately, the first round of scans in March 2019 showed a suspicious spot on her lung, later confirmed to be metastatic synovial sarcoma. Katie has fought every day since to keep the sarcoma at bay, completing more rounds of chemotherapy, SBRT, wedge resections to both lungs and immunotherapy clinical trials, and has traveled to Nashville, St. Louis, and Houston to talk to sarcoma specialists.
A single mother of two, Wintergerst is Associate Manager of Non-Traditional Development of KFC in Louisville. Since her diagnosis, Wintergerst has been active with the SFA Race to Cure Sarcoma (RTCS) Louisville, serving as the event’s co-chair. In addition, she has brought significant attention to sarcoma, SFA and the RTCS by participating in interviews with local media. Her enthusiastic support of SFA amidst her personal sarcoma journey is a testament to her strength and tenacity.
”Katie’s spirit and dedication to the sarcoma community are among the many qualities that make her the ideal recipient of the Amira Yunis Courage Award,” said Brandi Felser CEO of SFA. “Her commitment to raising awareness about sarcoma and SFA’s efforts in funding research has been unwavering and invaluable to sarcoma patients, caregivers and families.”
The Amira Yunis Courage Award was established in 2021 in memory of Amira Yunis, a former SFA board member and an Executive Vice President in the Retail Services Group at CBRE, Inc., who died of sarcoma at the age of 51. The award recognizes patients, survivors, caregivers, and advocates who inspire others by using their platform on behalf of sarcoma patients and survivors to create hope and a better life for the sarcoma community.
The Stand Up to Sarcoma Gala is the primary fundraising event for SFA and best highlights the mission of the organization. Net proceeds from the event will benefit the 2024 research and patient education programs, funding sarcoma research grants and educating patients about novel therapies and empowering them to be better advocates for their care.
# # #
About the Sarcoma Foundation of America
The Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization, is an advocate for increased research to find new and better therapies with which to treat patients with sarcoma. The organization raises money to privately fund grants for sarcoma researchers and conducts education and advocacy efforts on behalf of sarcoma patients. For more information, please visit www.curesarcoma.org.
About Sarcoma
Sarcoma is a rare cancer in adults (1 percent of all adult cancers) but rather prevalent in children (about 15% of all childhood cancers). At any one time, 200,000 patients and their families are struggling with sarcoma. Every year, nearly 17,370 new cases are diagnosed and more than 7,280 people die from the disease.