Bosom Buddies Charities (BBC) has elected Biana Bellaflores Arentz as its 2012-2013 Board Chair. She leads a Board of eight outstanding women who have raised $1.2 million in six years to promote breast cancer awareness, treatment, and support in Queen Anne’s County.

Ms. Arentz is also Chair of the Board of Trustees of Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis and a retired Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. She has served on the Foundation Board of Chesapeake College and is a supporter of Hospice of Queen Anne’s. Arentz and her husband Steve are Realtors with Long and Foster in Queen Anne’s County, and she is a principal with Chester River Inn Group, LLC. She and her husband owned and operated Hemingway’s Restaurant on Kent Island for over twenty years and have been residents of Queen Anne’s County for 22 years. Their daughter Elizabeth is a junior member of Bosom Buddies Charities.

The Board is comprised of a number of women who have been involved with the organization since its inception in 2006. Most prominent among them is Susan Ponchock, the founder of Bosom Buddies Charities. After surviving the diagnosis of an aggressive type of breast cancer, the trauma of surgery and stem cell transplant, chemotherapy and radiation, Ms. Ponchock organized a group of like-minded women who became the core group of the organization that has given back so much to the community including digital mammography equipment at the Kent Island Breast Center, funding for a nurse navigator for breast cancer patients, and ongoing programs to promote breast cancer awareness, treatment, and support.

Bosom Buddies Vice Chair is Cathy Adelman, who is also a Board member of the Anne Arundel Medical Center Foundation and active on numerous community-based organizations. BBC Secretary, Donna Moran, is a founding member of Bosom Buddies and served as Co-Chair of the 2011 and 2012 Bosom Buddies Ball. Karen White, the organization’s Treasurer, is a recent NASA retiree where she worked in Program Operations at NASA headquarters for 40 years.

Board member Veronica Haggart was appointed by the President of the United States as a Commissioner of the U.S. International Trade Commission and subsequently ran the global government relations and communications regulatory office for Motorola, Inc. Susan Kreamer, a realtor with Long and Foster, is First Vice President on the Master’s Club Board and former Board member of the Anne Arundel County Hospice Cup. Susan Vianna is President of Fishergate, a graphic design company in Chester, Maryland, and is involved fundraising activities benefitting Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children of Queen Anne’s and Kent Counties, Chesapeake Women’s Network, Hospice of Queen Anne’s, and the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center.

“These women bring a high level of energy and fundraising expertise to Bosom Buddies Charities,” said Board Chair Biana Arentz. “They and the members of the Ball Committee generate so much enthusiasm for our efforts to promote breast cancer awareness, encourage early detection, support treatment, and celebrate healing here in Queen Anne’s County. Our major fundraiser is the annual Bosom Buddies Ball, which will be held this year on January 19, 2013.” The organization is actively seeking sponsors who would like to be a part of this elegant affair, and encourage any interested organizations or individuals to contact Diane Briggs at bosombuddiesball@gmail.com.