Unite In The Fight Against Cancer
Anyone who’s life has been affected by cancer will tell you plainly: It sucks. Nowadays, it’s more difficult to find someone who hasn’t been affected by cancer in some way. We’ve all had a loved one, a coworker, a teacher, a family member, etc. who has had cancer or who have passed away with cancer. Count me in the latter group.
I Remember Life Before Cancer
I remember a life, seeing people around me lose loved ones to cancer and being so thankful that it hasn’t happened to me. Then I had a coworker who suffered for a long time before finally passing away. Still, I thought, “I’m so thankful that this hasn’t hit my immediate family.” Then, it did.
It definitely changed how I look at a lot of things. One of those things being all of the cancer fundraising events. I’ll be completely honest, I had thought in the past “How much money do we need to raise for this stuff?” That answer: a LOT! As I said before, it’s everywhere, in many forms, and you’d probably have a difficult time finding someone who hasn’t been affected by cancer in some way.
Volunteering Helps Me Grieve
This past Saturday, I DJed and emceed at ‘Unite in the Fight ‘ at the Georgia Cancer Center. This event holds a very special meaning to me, now. Last year was my first year being involved with the event and it was, somewhat poetically, held on Mother’s Day weekend one year after losing my mother to cancer.
The event, last year and this year, is an event filled with hope and encouragement. We had cancer patients and survivors in attendance. Yes, survivors. Sometimes, for cynical people such as myself, it’s hard to remember that many people beat this disease every day. But I was definitely reminded of that on Saturday.
Familiar Faces Joined In The Fight Against Cancer
I was joined on stage by my friends Cliff Bennett and Zayna Haliburton from WRDW/ News 12’s “The Morning Mix.” Dr. Jorge Cortes, Director of the Georgia Cancer Center, joined us on stage to tell us how much the UITF walk means for progress in cancer research and comfort. This year’s event alone raised over $117,000!
We also got to hear from our former mayor and a cancer survivor, himself, Deke Copenhaver. Deke is always an uplifting guy and a positive voice, always good to catch up with him. And, if you’re keeping score: I shook the hand of our former mayor this past weekend and the hand of our current mayor the weekend before. I guess all that’s left is the future mayor. So, if you’re a mayor hopeful, I’ll be at ‘Flex Fest‘ benefitting ALS next weekend.
The event was attended by many, including Augusta’s own boxing star, Justin Dock who brought some athletes from my alma mater, Butler High School, to join him in the 1 mile walk.
This is an event that I will always volunteer to help, as long as they’ll have me. Yes, it feels good to help. But, it also makes me feel a little bit of a connection with my mom, which is priceless.
