For immediate release
MIAMI – Feb. 15, 2021 – Yodeah announces the creation of the Chazak Award to recognize amazing people who have inspired the organization’s mission and worked with Yodeah to save generations of Jewish families through education and testing for Jewish hereditary cancers. The Hebrew word Chazak means strength and there is no better word to describe our first recipient. Her strength of spirit, conviction and faith is a source of blessing to all who know her.
It is with great pleasure that Yodeah presents the first Chazak Award to our amazing friend and Yodeah Board Member, Eileen Winkler Youtie, who, as a result of her valiant and inspiring fight to stop cancer, has inspired us to educate more people and test more families. Eileen’s personal mission to help cancer patients and stop cancer resulting from BRCA mutations has comforted and informed cancer patients, resulted in more education and testing for Ashkenazi Jewish families, and saved lives.
Upon the completion of reading a book of Torah, Jews around the world chant the phrase, Chazak, Chazak, V’nitchazeik, “Let us be strong, let us be strong and let us strengthen one another.” “Eileen inspires us to be strong and optimistic, even in the face of great odds, and works passionately to educate and test for Jewish hereditary cancers. She is the embodiment of Chazak, strength, and has committed her life to being a source of strength for others” said Dr. Elizabeth Etkin-Kramer, Founder of Yodeah.
Eileen is a long time Miami resident and tireless community activist and philanthropist. Eileen is active in many organizations both locally and nationally and has inspired so many by the tireless work she has done on behalf of others. She and her husband Phil are parents to Haleigh and Max.
About Yodeah: Yodeah, which means “to know”, is a non-profit organization committed to educating the Jewish community on hereditary cancer genes and facilitating low-cost testing. 1 in 40 Ashkenazi Jews carries a mutation on a BRCA gene, significantly increasing their risk of cancer, and most don’t know. If you know you carry a genetic mutation, there are preventative steps you can take to mitigate your risk of cancer and the risk to your children and future generations. Visit www.yodeah.org to learn more and order your low-cost medical-grade saliva test today.