“Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dolores Catania’s annual “Battle for Brooklyn” charity softball game returns to Maimonides Park this Wednesday — where reality television meets real-world impact in a feel-good event benefiting the Maimonides Breast Center.
Since nearly the beginning, Catania has been at the center of the initiative. She told Brooklyn Paper that after hosting a “Pink Runway” event at Maimonides to help breast cancer patients feel beautiful after chemotherapy, her eyes were opened to their stories.
“After speaking to the patients there, I found all the women who had been through hell,” Catania said. “While they all had different stories and journeys, the one thing they had in common was the fact that they all loved Maimonides and spoke so highly of the doctors and patient care.”
That experience, she said, led her directly to the “Battle for Brooklyn.”
“I was told about the event, where the doctors play against celebrities. So they asked me to play, and that’s how it started,” she said. “Then I asked my castmates to play and it just grows bigger every year.”
The event pairs the Maimonides All-Stars — a team of physicians and hospital staff — against a roster of Bravo TV personalities in a celebration, fundraiser and awareness campaign rolled into one. This year, Catania’s team includes “Real Housewives of New Jersey” stars Melissa Gorga, Margaret Josephs and Danielle Cabral; “Real Housewives of New York” alum Dorinda Medley; and “The Biggest Loser’s” Bob Harper, among others.
“It’s a really feel-good event,” Catania said. “We raise a lot of money and the energy in the stands as well as on the field — when I look up into the stands and see everyone smiling, getting along and coming together in the Bravo world to do something so wonderful — and also to celebrate the hero doctors we play with.”
But behind the fun is a deeper mission.
“Leading up to me going to Maimonides to meet everyone, I was stopped at the door and asked when my last mammogram was, and I could not remember,” Catania said. “He scheduled a mammogram for me and they found I had a calcification that needed to be biopsied because they had nothing to compare it to.”
That moment changed her.
“I have since gone above and beyond to make sure that women stop and take care of themselves and their wellness,” she said. “Early prevention is the best detection and going for a mammogram is like a seatbelt — you might not need it, but when you do, it will save your life.”
Dr. Patrick Borgen, head of the Maimonides Breast Center, emphasized that the game’s purpose extends beyond the score.
“This is a fundraiser, first of all,” Borgen told Brooklyn Paper. “It’s to make Brooklyn and our region aware of this world-class breast cancer program.”
Borgen said the event also helps amplify the hospital’s message in a community where resources for outreach are limited.
“We are fundamentally a safety-net hospital, meaning that we treat everybody,” he said. “And we don’t have the same marketing and public relations budgets that a lot of places do.”
That growing need, he stressed, is reflected in the number of patients the center continues to serve.
“This October we will treat breast cancer patient No. 8,000 at this center,” Borgen said. “There’s clearly a tremendous need out there, and this event helps us raise awareness of this program.”
Funds raised have helped Maimonides invest in technology that enhances early detection and treatment. Last year’s game brought in more than $100,000.
“Our fundraising efforts have allowed us to make sure that we have state-of-the-art, best-in-class technology, like 3D mammography machines and ultrasound machines that help us diagnose breast cancer at the earliest possible stage,” he said. He added that the center has now implemented artificial intelligence to help read x-rays — something that wouldn’t be possible without fundraising.
The game will also tie in with NBCUniversal’s August “Clear the Shelters” campaign, which “teams up with hundreds of shelters across the country for a nationwide pet adoption campaign that helps find loving homes for animals in need.” Catania said that while a patient will throw the first pitch, there will be a dog at the mound, too.
“I like for people to get together to do something good because it evokes happiness for everyone,” Catania said. “And then the money we raise for the hospital as well as hopefully one of our fur babies coming will get adopted.”
Borgen said the atmosphere at Maimonides is unlike any other event. “The energy at the stadium is palpable, it’s just a lot of love,” he said.
And as for who’s going to win?
“Of course, I think the Maimonides team,” Borgen laughed. “I’ll be pitching for them. I’m going to predict a 20 to zero score.”
The “Battle for Brooklyn” takes place Wednesday, Aug. 6, at Maimonides Park in Coney Island. Tickets are available at www.battle4bklyn.org
