“Why I’m Raising Money for the American Cancer Society”

I was first introduced to cancer in 1987, when my grandfather passed away. Having been so young, I had no clue what cancer was or that it would resurface in my life later on. Most of you know that I lost my mother to breast cancer on July 21, 2006. Like most people, my mother was everything to me, and I have shared in detail how her loss has affected me since that tragic date, you can read that story here.

In looking for ways to honor my mother, my family provided a $1,500 academic scholarship in her name to a deserving high school senior who was attending college and was a member of First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown, which was the church I was raised in. While I enjoyed being able to help someone go to college, I never felt that I was doing my part in terms of helping fight cancer. I would always share my story with people, in hopes that it would help them cope with their own loss, but I wasn’t doing anything to move the needle.

I’ve been toying around with some other concepts and ideas to honor my mother, while also helping those who are affected by cancer. And in the midst of me working on this new idea, I received a called from Erica Kellem-Beasley, who is the new Executive Director of the American Cancer Society. When I was asked to join this organization as a member of the Executive Board for the state of Kentucky, it felt like divine intervention.