Hilary Swank will reunite with Saks Fifth Avenue next Wednesday, when the retailer honors the Oscar-winning actress with the 2008 Courage Award at its annual “Unforgettable Evening,” benefiting the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund. Swank, whose grandmother, grandfather, and mother-in-law have all died of cancer, was, in 2005, EIF’s ambassador to Saks’s annual Key to the Cure for cancer, appearing in a special campaign wearing a limited-edition T-shirt designed by Diane von Furstenberg.

Specifically, Swank’s accolade celebrates her collaborations with EIF’s WCRF to further cancer research and education and highlights her commitment to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, a program created in partnership between Pantene and EIF’s WCRF. Recently, Swank famously cut off her hair on Oprah, encouraging others to grow, cut, and donate their healthy hair to make free real-hair wigs for women who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment.

The sit-down dinner gala, to take place at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, will feature a live performance by Grammy-award winning Mary J. Blige. The evening’s honorary chairs are Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks, Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg, as well as EIF’s WCRF co-founders Kelly Chapman Meyer, Jamie Tisch, Anne Douglas, Quinn Ezralow, and Marion Laurie. Juicy Couture’s Pam Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, meanwhile, will receive the Corporate Visionary and Nat King Cole awards, respectively, for their support of the cause. In 2007, the duo created the T-shirt EIF ambassador Renée Zellweger donned in support of KTTC emblazoned with the phrase, “Viva la Cure.”

Thanks to Mooch for the heads up.

Source: http://www.fashionweekdaily.com