Country Sweethearts raises money for cancer fighters

MOSES LAKE — It’s a rare person who hasn’t been touched by cancer one way or another, said Jay Ballinger, who delivered the blessing before the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation’s Country Sweethearts banquet and auction Saturday. He asked each person in the room to call to mind someone affected by the disease – a survivor, a passed loved one, a caregiver, a health care worker – and take 30 seconds of silence to think about or pray for those people.

“We are going to assail the gates of heaven tonight with prayers for every single person that 580 of us can think of,” Ballinger, a cancer survivor and former CBCF board member, said. “If you let me round that up to 600 and we do 30 seconds, that’s 300 minutes. That’s five hours of prayer.”

Heads were bowed, the men removed their hats and silence took over or half a minute as the entire room contemplated the lives lost or harmed by cancer.

“This night serves as a reminder that no one has to face life alone,” said CBCF Executive Director Angel Ledesma.

More than $326,000 was raised at Saturday’s auction, the most in the event’s 17-year history. The event, with 580 tickets, sold out in December, Ledesma said. The traditional theme is western, and the Commercial and 4-H buildings at the Grant County Fairgrounds were awash in jeans, boots and cowboy hats. Dinner was barbecued chicken and trimmings catered by Michael’s on the Lake, and the live auction was conducted by Chuck Yarbro Jr. Besides the live and silent auctions, there were a variety of raffles and sales to raise funds.

New this year was a raffle for a camper trailer donated by Camping World. The raffle was limited to 500 tickets at $100 apiece.

“Camping World is paying all of the taxes, all of the fees, and the person gets to take it home,” said Kim Pope, who was helping out with the raffle.

By the front door was a table where regular Cancer Foundation volunteer Nettie Miller was checking coats.

“Not many people do it, but it’s by donation and they make a little bit of extra,” said Sherri Miller, who was helping Nettie with the service. The same table also offered handmade bracelets with charms representing horses, cowboy hats, boots and cancer ribbons. The sign said “Made with love by Leona.”

The Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation, established in 2000, serves people suffering from cancer in local communities, as well as their families and caregivers. The CBCF has about 300 active clients at the moment, Ledesma said, at different stages in their cancer journey.  The foundation offers gas cards and sometimes lodging help for patients traveling out of town for treatment, as well as wigs and head coverings to ease hair loss, bone broth for patients and food packages for their family, and support groups to share the struggle. The annual Country Sweethearts event is the foundation’s biggest source of funding for these services, Ledesma said.

Before the live auction began, Yarbro led a special paddle raise in honor of Mike Hamilton, founder of Michael’s on the Lake and a strong supporter of the Cancer Foundation, who passed away in January following a 20-year fight with the disease. Hamilton’s widow, Krista Hamilton, took the microphone before the paddle raise.

“(A person’s legacy) is the lasting impact, the memory and influence someone leaves behind, encompassing intangible qualities such as values, wisdom, stories, traditions and the positive changes they inspire in others,” Hamilton said. “It is the imprint of their lives showing how they lived, the lessons they taught, and the connections they made that continue to affect future generations. My husband led our family to live our lives this way. On the morning of the hardest day of our lives, my son said to me, and I quote, ‘We can do hard things.’ In that moment, I saw in him that the legacy lives on. Thank you for honoring my husband tonight.”

In her remarks, Ledesma asked everyone touched by cancer to stand up. One by one, survivors, caregivers, current cancer battlers and their families rose to their feet until nearly the entire room was standing. Then she asked those few remaining to stand in solidarity.

“Everyone is standing up,” Ledesma said. “Today, we rise. Tomorrow, we will rise. And always we will overcome cancer together.”

    From left: Sarah Swafford, Rosa Dekker and Teresa Holman look over silent auctions at the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation’s Country Sweethearts auction Saturday.
  

    Attendees serve up barbecued chicken catered by Michael’s on the Lake at the Country Sweethearts banquet Saturday.
  

    Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation Executive Director Angel Ledesma calls on cancer survivors, caregivers and family members to stand up and show how many lives cancer touches.