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 All of these days are dates in the future that
hold the potential of making for wonderful family memories that we
can cherish for years to come. For those who are battling cancer of
any type, these wonderful days may be overshadowed with struggles of
the illness and the side effects of treatments. Some will gain
victory over the disease, and some will gain the ultimate victory
and be freed from their pain and suffering when they go to be with
their Lord.
Regardless of how this next year unfolds, there will be memories
both good and bad, happy and sad.
We at Lincoln Daily News have been busy storing away memories as
well. We will remember this month as one of the most emotional
months of the year.
In the month of October, we created some really good memories as we
gathered together items for the Pink Pumpkin Auction. Those memories
included working with a huge number of people to pull off a
successful fundraiser to benefit the American Cancer Society and
Relay for Life of Logan County.
We will remember collecting items for the auction, seeing how
creative the people of this community are and how generous they are.
We will remember working closely with Erv and Cindy Guyett of
Collision Concepts to hold the fundraiser. We will remember the
generosity of people like Mike Maske who conducted the auction and
Lincoln Printers who helped out tremendously with invitations,
programs and much more. We will remember Gail’s Pumpkin Patch’s
donation of real pumpkins for our volunteer designers to decorate.
We will remember the great food and drink at the auction, all
provided by the Guyett’s. We will also remember with great fondness
our Logan County Fair royalty who came and helped with the auction,
and all the fun we had watching the bidders vie for the 51 items
offered for sale.
We will remember all those who came to the fundraiser and a candy
bar bouquet that brought in $500 and the generous bidding of
everyone in attendance that brought that evening total to $6,000. We
will remember the people who donated money throughout the month. The
District 27 schools gave their blue jean money to Relay for Life
through the LDN/CCA/Collision Concepts Friends and Family Relay
Team. Country Aire in Atlanta hosted a day-long fundraiser for the
team, Graue Chevrolet doubled their winning bid on some of the items
they purchased on auction night. Erv Guyett matched dollar for
dollar the item in the auction that brought $500. Alice Engel got
matching funds from her employer for the items she purchased at the
auction, and The Town and Country Bank in Lincoln donated the
proceeds from their bake sales to the relay team. While funds were
still being counted for the evening, LDN's photographer Mitch
Douglas said he wanted to fill the gap with what ever it took to
round up the nights count to an even $6,000 (about $125). Mitch
volunteered his photography services that evening, his wife Margie
contributed designs and purchased designs. Another perfect couple
working in tandem for the cure. With all this, our total money
raised for the month of October came to $7,250. That is an amazing
amount of money and much more than we ever expected.
Other memories we will cherish include the Cancer Survivor Rally
held on Saturday after the auction. The weather was iffy and the
turn out ended up being small, but it was still a very good event.
We appreciate John Guzzardo who came and spoke at the rally. He
spoke from the heart and touched us all. Thanks to Donna Doolin who
led us in prayer and also spoke briefly again touching our hearts.
Lesleigh Bennett lifted us up with her beautiful voice and the
backdrop of the Wellness Pond and Trail at Abraham Lincoln Memorial
Hospital was beautiful and an ideal location. And thanks to
Generations of Lincoln who came out with bottled water for those who
attended the rally. The memories and
friendships that we renewed or formed through our cancer survivor
stories are priceless. LDN felt privileged and honored that we had a
number of women who trusted us to tell their story. They shared with
us their strengths and weaknesses during their illness, they spoke
about the emotional experience as well as the physical experience
and trusted us to handle their memories both good and bad with great
care and respect. We can only hope we did them justice and
appreciate the jewels they shared for others to be strengthened by.
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Gathering the pink pictures for our paper will be
another big memory for staff at LDN. In the end, we published 123
photos with more than 1,200 people. It was a stunning response, and
we were amazed by the folks who reached out and told us they wanted
to be included. Some took their own pictures and emailed them to us
but many of those folks were visited by Karen Hargis, Roy Logan, or
Nila Smith and posed for the pictures. Karen and Roy in particular
spent a great deal of time in September and October gathering those
photos and talking to the ones who were in the groups. Often, they
would pose the question, do you know of anyone who has battled
breast cancer. In every group hands raised. In some groups, there
were those who were survivors and some who were even in the fight
currently.
It touched us deeply and left an impression on us that we could
never do too much and cannot stop working on this worthwhile cause.
At LDN, we started the Paint the Paper Pink project because we
wanted to make a statement about the need for awareness. We wanted
the opportunity to remind people throughout the month that breast
cancer is among us, and we have to take care to protect ourselves
through self-exams, mammograms, and whatever other means are
necessary. We as a people have to educate our daughters, hold up our
sisters, and be there for our mothers.
In 2017 we were surprised by the response we got to the pink
pictures, and it was one of the driving factors to expanding the
campaign in 2018. We decided it wasn’t enough to just talk about
cancer, we had to do something to help those who suffer this
disease. When we decided to put our money where our mouth is, so to
speak, again we were surprised, even shocked, by how many were there
beside us, ready to help.
In 2018, breast cancer will be the number one diagnosed cancer in
the country and in our state. However, thanks to research and
advances in treatment and medications, it will not be the number one
“cause of death” cancer in our state.
A century ago, a diagnoses of cancer of nearly any kind was an
assumed death sentence, but today it is not. More people are
surviving every day. While sometimes it appears that advances in
treatment come slowly, they are none-the-less coming.
Research into the causes, preventions, and cures of any disease
costs money, money that this year people like you helped to raise
through your generosity.
The $7,250 that has been collected thus far by the Friends and
Family Relay team will go to the American Cancer Society. The
society uses those funds to provide research grants to hospitals
around the country, including several in Illinois, who are working
to find that big cure.
The Society also offers services to those who are in battle. From
assistance with hotel stays, transportation to treatments, and
offering emotional support through their hotlines and support
groups, the society looks at each person individually and provides
what is needed for the given situation. The dollars raised in
October will go to help people here in our community.
So, as we wrap up this month of breast cancer awareness, we want to
thank the community for the memories. Thanks for all you have done
to help raise awareness for breast cancer, thanks for stepping up
and being counted as one who has compassion for those who are
battling this disease. Thanks for opening up those wallets and
contributing to a very worthy cause.
While we all have memories to make in the future, the memories we at
LDN have made in this past month will always be priceless to us.
So, to sum it all up … thanks for the memories.
God bless you all!
[Nila Smith] |
