Newswise — The Women’s Heart Fund will host its signature event, the Heart of Rock and Roll cocktail reception, on Friday, June 2, from 7-10 p.m. at the Asbury Hotel in Asbury Park, NJ. 

The Women's Heart Fund Board is excited to announce that this year's event will feature special guests Chazz Palminteri of the hit Broadway musical, A Bronx Tale, and his wife Gianna Palminteri, who will serve as honorary chairs. With more than 50 movies to his credit, Bronx-born and raised Chazz was destined to continue the long line of prominent actors in the film industry. Well known for Bullets Over Broadway, The Usual Suspects and A Bronx Tale, he is the only artist who has had his work go from a one-man show to a major motion picture film to a hit Broadway musical. 

Gianna started her acting in New York City where she wrote and performed the one-act play, The Curse, Off-Broadway. Her acting credits include Soulmate, Homeboy, Tattingers and Ghetto Dog, among others. Gianna is also the creator of the web series BadMommyz, is in negotiations for launching her own lifestyle show, At Home with Gianna, and is writing for her blog HollywoodMom.net.          

Chazz and Gianna are proud to serve as honorary chairs of the Women’s Heart Fund event. “Raising awareness for Meridian Health Foundation and the Women’s Heart Fund gives us great pleasure. To be able to give back to the medical community and to the dedicated doctors, nurses and researchers who change the course of many lives is a wonderful thing ...it's an honor,” said the Palminteris.          

This year’s event will fund the construction of the Women’s Center that will be housed in the new HOPE Tower at Hackensack Meridian Health Jersey Shore University Medical Center. The Women’s Center will provide services for those receiving treatment for cancer to improve their well-being. Patients throughout Hackensack Meridian Health will benefit from the Center, which is set to open in 2018.

“The mission of the Women’s Heart Fund is to educate our community about the importance of women’s health and to raise funds for women’s programs, services and technology throughout Hackensack Meridian Health,” said Joseph Stampe, president and chief development officer of Meridian Health Foundation. “In 2017, the Women’s Heart Fund has committed to raising $250,000 for this network-wide initiative to not only support hospital services, but also support the overall health of women in our community throughout their cancer treatments.” 

The Heart of Rock and Roll reception will feature an array of fine foods, spirits and live music with cocktail attire, a 50/50 raffle, auction and an advertising journal. As the exclusive event for the Women’s Heart Fund in 2017, all members of the community are invited to attend as the group celebrates the community and helps further the Women’s Heart Fund’s mission.

Please contact Meagan O’Flaherty, Special Events associate, by phone at 732-751-5101 or email at [email protected] if you are interested in attending the event, requesting sponsorship information, or purchasing an advertisement or 50/50 raffle ticket.

ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care. Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 13 hospitals, including two academic medical centers, two children's hospitals and nine community hospitals, physician practices, more than 120 ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, and urgent care and after-hours centers. Hackensack Meridian Health has 28,000 team members, more than 6,000 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

The Network's notable distinctions include having one of only five major academic medical centers in the nation to receive Healthgrades America's 50 Best Hospitals Award for five or more consecutive years, the number one hospital in New Jersey as ranked by U.S. News and World Report, consistently achieving Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, recipient of the John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality from The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum, a six-time recipient of Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For," one of the "20 Best Workplaces in Health Care" in the nation, and the number one "Best Place to Work for Women." Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.

The hospitals of Hackensack Meridian Health include: academic medical centers – Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune; children's hospitals – Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; community hospitals – Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, and Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood.

For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org.