The Heidi Hewes Chapter of the Woman\u2019s Cancer Association hosted its annual Home for the Holidays Walk and Tour to benefit cancer research, education and patient care.<\/p>\n
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For more than 30 years, the Miami Shores community has welcomed in the holiday season with the annual Home for the Holidays Walk and Tour presented by the Heidi Hewes Chapter of the Woman\u2019s Cancer Association of the University of Miami (WCA).<\/a> The festive event raises funds to support cancer research, education and patient care at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center,<\/a> a part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and South Florida\u2019s only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe Home for the Holidays Walk and Tour is a longstanding tradition in Miami Shores, an event families, friends and neighbors look forward to each year,\u201d said Holiday Home Tour Co-Chair Cristina Butler, who also serves as co-president of the Heidi Hewes Chapter of the WCA, a 100% volunteer-led organization. \u201cIt feels very much like a neighborhood holiday party, with people gathering outside of the featured homes to socialize.\u201d<\/p>\n Celebrate the Season<\/p>\n This year there were five homes on the tour, each beautifully decorated for the holidays. As they moved from house to house, guests were served wine, cheese, cookies, coffee and other homemade treats and enjoyed live entertainment, including musicians playing the bass and trumpet and a youth orchestra string quartet, along with a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s tour also featured a pop-up Bargain Box shop, which is WCA\u2019s thrift store.<\/p>\n Butler says there are no specific prerequisites for homes to be chosen. Rather, the committee looks for quintessential Miami Shores homes that express the city\u2019s charm. The home could be architecturally interesting, historic, newly renovated or a place where homeowners collect something unique.<\/p>\n As a child, Butler treasured attending the tour with her mother and her mother\u2019s friends. She recalled the excitement of having her parents\u2019 house featured and has also opened the door to her home for the tour.<\/p>\n Support for Sylvester Scientists<\/p>\n The annual Home for the Holidays Walk and Tour is the Heidi Hewes Chapter\u2019s main fundraiser. Its namesake was born and raised in Miami Shores. She was diagnosed with melanoma during her senior year of high school and passed away in 1971 at the age of 17.<\/p>\n Past President Nora Tenney says the sold-out event was started 33 years ago by former chapter president, Jane Hinterkopf, who passed earlier this year. The event raises more than $60,000 each year to support cancer research at Sylvester.<\/p>\n The WCA awards grants to Sylvester\u2019s renowned physician-scientists each year to pursue innovative research. Tour attendees had the opportunity to speak with one of these grant recipients about his work. Anis Ahmad, M.D.,<\/a> an assistant professor of radiation oncology<\/a> at the Miller School, was awarded the Woman\u2019s Cancer Association Pediatric Grant for his research on how to prevent radiation-induced nephrotoxicity in pediatric cancer survivors.<\/p>\n Prolific Partner<\/p>\n Since its founding in 1959, the Woman\u2019s Cancer Association has remained steadfast in its\u00a0mission to support cancer research, education and patient care, having donated more than $15 million to Sylvester. <\/p>\n \u201cWhile the holidays are certainly a time for giving, the generosity of the Woman\u2019s Cancer Association is evident throughout the year,\u201d said Stephen Nimer, M.D.,<\/a> director of Sylvester, the Oscar de La Renta Endowed Chair in Cancer Research and executive dean for research at the Miller School. \u201cThe funds they raise through community-minded events such as the Holiday Home Tour help fuel the progress that leads to earlier detection, more precise treatments and better care for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n Tags:<\/strong> cancer research<\/a>, Department of Radiation Oncology<\/a>, Dr. Stephen Nimer<\/a>, fundraising<\/a>, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center<\/a>, Woman’s Cancer Association<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By: Stacey Bomser | December 17, 2025 | 5 min. read\u00a0|\u00a0 Share The Heidi Hewes Chapter of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[2566,125998,125999,18,3111,135,19,17,12261,126000],"class_list":{"0":"post-238423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-cancer-research","9":"tag-department-of-radiation-oncology","10":"tag-dr-stephen-nimer","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-fundraising","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-sylvester-comprehensive-cancer-center","17":"tag-womans-cancer-association"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115737912193051112","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Miami](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/img-hewes-home-tour.jpg\")
Miami Shore residents opened their homes for the Heidi Hewes Home for the Holidays Walk and Tour.<\/p>\n