 Welcome to CTN member highlight. I'm Leslie McVane and today my guests are the Cancer Community Center team Yes, I have Eileen Brown who is the development director. Hi Eileen. Good morning, and oh Melissa Cookson and Karen Schilling who are the co-chairs of a wonderful event that's going to be Happening soon and that is the fightback festival, right? Which is September 24th, and it's held at Pine Land Farms in New Gloucester Well before we talk about the fightback festival perhaps you could Eileen give us a little background on what the Cancer Community Center is and does certainly so the Cancer Community Center started we're in our 17th year and we offer programs and services for Adults diagnosed with cancer their friends and their family so If you've been diagnosed if you're a caretaker a family member and the services are completely free to all of our community members and They are range from exercise class to acupuncture Creative coloring there's writing and there are also support groups and nutrition and yes all of that And it's it really is from every stage of cancer So when you're newly diagnosed to when you're going through treatments and even once you've completed your treatment And you're trying to find your place back in Whatever sense of normalcy you have in your life for you and your family and friends so that you can Engage in all of those activities and part of your life again Well, I think it's a wonderful place. I've been there a couple of times and it's just it feels good walking in the door It certainly is a feel-good place for sure. So another thing you're doing to make everybody feel good. Is this fightback event? Yes, so you have two wonderful volunteers here who have taken on the Responsibility of the co-chair of this event to each want to speak a little bit about why you wanted to get involved and a little bit about the event Well, I'm a cancer survivor myself. So when I had the opportunity to Volunteer at the center. I am didn't hesitate at all. I started as a buddy Which the buddy program? Which is really they they Bring people together that have been through the cancer and been through the terrible times and connect them with somebody That's dealing with cancer now Kind of talk them through it and know that yes, what you're feeling is normal and it's very rewarding So a little one-on-one with somebody who really gets exactly so it's been really nice Terrific and I happened to work as an oncology dietitian So I see people with cancer all the time and then I was always sending them to the cancer community center I knew a lot of the staff. I knew a lot of the volunteers and I kept doing the bike ride And then I thought I could maybe get on this committee and step it up a bit Yeah, just just add some some other touches to it and it's just such a great Organization that it once once you step in there. It's it's hard to ever step out Well Eileen tell us a little bit about what will happen that day. What is the fight? Sure so the fight back festival is the largest fundraiser and it's really our Signature fundraiser for the cancer community center because it really is all about Community and family and everyone celebrating together so the day will start with registration in the morning at 8 30 and Two bike rides a 50 mile bike ride and a 25 mile bike ride We also have a 5k walk a 5k run There's a large kid zone for those that are bringing their family and their children that want to participate so that's Managed by the YMCA that is right on site out at Pine land and Then we have awards The Haley Cup is one of them. I thought they brought it for me And we'll have a live band And food and we'll do some presentations to the highest fundraisers And that's one of what this is that this award is the Haley Cup And it's given to the top fundraising team for the event And so this was started this will be the fifth year that it's been given out. It was started by the Haley family Tim Haley Unfortunately lost his battle to cancer when he was 44 years old young Husband and dad brother and was very active in While he was sick and said, you know I'm gonna live and I'm gonna I'm gonna fight this and he did as for as long as he was with us and So this is a tribute to Tim started by his family team had strong And they've raised over $15,000 each year as a team throughout the year. They raise money throughout the year all year So the challenge is They want another team to get their name on this cup because they want it's not about winning the cup for them It's about raising as much money as they can for the Cancer Community Center. So, yeah, and Melissa, it's going to be from 830 tell It usually goes we wrap it up around we have lunch and awards and it usually 1 1 30 sometimes 2 depending on the You know how much fun everybody's having because it is a lot of fun Hey, and Karen it is a fundraiser So how do teams form and how do they go out and get money and how do they find out more about how to do that? So this is the first year. We're having a minimum fundraising of a hundred dollars, which isn't that much Many people can raise that by just asking for friends for $25 or 10 friends for $10 It's it's not a high bar, but we want to really emphasize the purpose of the event is Fundraising and still having fun So people at workplaces put together teams We get teams that volunteer to to do certain volunteer activities like man rest stops on the bike rides and We just try to encourage people through our workplaces through our volunteer base to To put a team together and fundraise as a team because it's more fun that way and then there Do the children do a walk to the kids can participate in the walk many of the kids do walk with their families And if you're interested in joining us as a volunteer or raising money, you can go to our website There's cancer community center org And there's also a fight back festival website and registration will begin on May 10th So please join us and it's a lot of fun Well, and it's a beautiful time of year to be out and celebrating Exactly, and that's what it is a big celebration. Absolutely. Well, I've already decided I can't do the long bike rides There you go, we'd love to have you well Thank you all three of you for being here and for doing this for for everybody. Thank you Thank you for letting us share the story. Yes