GIRARD — Stone of Help Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit tax exempt organization established in 2016 to address the disease sarcoidosis and at-risk youth, is sponsoring the Sarcoidosis Awareness Outreach third annual banquet at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Mahoning Country Club, 710 E. Liberty St., Girard.

Event organizers said sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that can affect any organ in the body. The cause of the disease is due to an overactive immune system, which creates granulomas (microscopic clumps of inflammatory cells). When too many granulomas accumulate in an organ it can interfere with proper organ function.

About 200,000 people are affected with this disease in the United States. The largest affected population is African-American women between the ages 20 and 40 years old. However, now it affects anyone, regardless of age, race, or gender.

This year, Meredith Y. Lilly, former Ohio for Obama campaign director, will be a guest accompanied by keynote speaker Dr. Leroy Brown, a Morehouse graduate specializing in oncology, along with Bishop C. Shawn Tyson, bishop of Mount Calvary Ministries International, as special guest.

Cost is $35 a person. Checks should be made to Stone of Help Inc., Box 2104, Youngstown 44504. For reservations and more information, call 330-506-7299. Donations are also being accepted for marketing, education and outreach. The immediate need now is for grants for future outreach events.

Gwendolyn Fish is president.