Mar 23, 2007 By Jean Lohr For The 3 min read

Joe Carei, owner and chef at Caileigh’s Restaurant in Uniontown, wants to spread the good news. “Colon cancer is curable,” he said of the cancer that is the second deadliest in the United States. According to the Colon Cancer Alliance, a national organization that promotes colon cancer awareness and screenings, one of every 17.5 people in the United States will contract colon cancer this year.

But, once listed among the very worst, colon cancer is now at the top of the list of survivable cancers.

Carei is living proof of that.

“In May it will be five years since my diagnosis and treatment program began,” he said. “I can’t believe it … in May I will be officially cured.”

But Carei, one of four Pennsylvania chapter coordinators of the CCA, is not ready to sit back and relax.

He remembers his diagnosis – the words – and doesn’t want anyone else to face what he faced.

He noted that with better information and proper screenings colon cancer cases can be cut by 66 percent.

“That’s where the public comes in,” Carei said. “Fayette County is a giving community, and we can do this.”

The fifth annual Celebrity Chef Cook-Off to benefit CCA is set for Saturday at Anthony’s Lakeside Party Center in McClellandtown.

“We had to move it this year,” said Carei of the event that has outgrown the Uniontown Country Club site. “Lakeside can handle about 600 people, so we should have a good year.”

WTAE-TV news anchors Andrew Stockey and Mike Clark will be front and center for this year’s festivities.

Joining Clark and Stockey will be 23 other local and regional celebrity chefs preparing scrumptious delights to tempt the palate.

Carei noted that Terry Cellurale, the Rev. Keith Conover, Rick Rafail and Stockey were there at the very beginning.

“They helped us get this whole thing started,” he said. “And they have kept coming back.”

As for the menu, Carei guarantees there will be something to please the most discriminating of tastes.

“We have so many recipes,” said Carei, naming Italian wedding soup; shrimp barbecue on rice; Tai coconut chicken; ravioli; lasagna; beef and vegetable egg rolls; and lobster bisque before adding, “and so much more.”

“There will also be cheese cake and cookies and a chocolate fountain, and probably crepes,” he said.

From appetizers to entrees to desserts, patrons can circulate to the chef’s stations and partake of their favorite recipes.

“And we have something new this year,” Carei said. “We will be unveiling a video full of local survival stories … positive stories … of people who have gone through the nightmare of colon cancer and come out the other side.

“We want to raise awareness, and the video will help us in continuing to spread that message,” he said. “There is about a five-day gap between diagnosis and when a treatment plan can begin. We want to be able to give patients some uplifting stories … success stories … while they are waiting … when they are at their lowest points.”

The 2006 Celebrity Chef Cook-Off raised $24,000 toward the cause. This year, Carei wants to see an even larger number.

To purchase tickets, participate in, volunteer for, or join the growing list of sponsors of the 2007 Celebrity Chef Cook-Off, call Carei at 724-437-9463 or email jcarei@ccalliance.org.

“It’s going to be one heck of a good time,” he concluded. For more information about colon cancer, visit the Colon Cancer Alliance Web site at www.ccalliance.org; the National Cancer Institute at www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/colon-and-rectal or call the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345 or www.cancer.org.