Charity Snapshot: Lighting the Path

River Club’s Bethany Lynch quietly walked down Main Street at Lakewood Ranch on Sept. 20, starting from the small garden between Ed’s Tavern and the Fish Hole.

She observed each of the luminarias on the ground giving off a slight ray of light from the tea lights inside.

Some of the small, white paper bag luminarias had pictures of loved ones while others had messages of hope written on them, but each was decorated in its own way in honor of someone who has been impacted by cancer.

Lynch is familiar with how cancer can impact a person and a family. Her sister Allyson Spain and grandparents Enrico and Anna Cicero and Leoma Crick all had cancer.

Three years ago, Lynch started working with the American Cancer Society as its senior community development manager.

“It was the perfect combination of corporate and nonprofit because it’s a big, well-established nonprofit that has been around for over 100 years,” Lynch says. “It just feels that at that time of my life, it felt better to give something more than just to my own income. I had two children, and I wanted them to understand about giving back to our community and being involved in the community.”

Although Lynch is the only Lakewood Ranch resident currently employed by the American Cancer Society, dozens of residents from around the greater Lakewood Ranch area have given their time and money to support the national organization.

Lakewood Ranch’s Fred Lopez has been volunteering for the American Cancer Society since his wife, Ragnsild Oyen-Lopez, died of cancer in 2007. He’s raised money for the nonprofit and helped during its Relay for Live events. He helps in any way he can.

“I want to give back to people who are in the same position I was,” Lopez says. “When someone is sick, I know what they’re feeling because I went through it.”

Growing roots

Lynch noticed in the past five years that turnover in community development staff for the nonprofit caused inconsistencies in the presence of the American Cancer Society in Lakewood Ranch, so when she joined the nonprofit, she saw opportunities to get the community more involved.

“This is my home and my community,” Lynch says. “I’ve lived here longer than I’ve lived anywhere in my life, and I know how generous, giving and involved this community is … Now getting it back in front of the right people, the people that it means more to, I think we’re starting to build that momentum up again.”

The first-ever Neighbors Unite event Sept. 20 was an example of how community members in the area have come together to support one another and the nonprofit.

Due to COVID-19, the American Cancer Society had to cancel its large fundraising events, such as Relay for Life. In its place, the nonprofit decided to host Neighbors Unite, which brought communities together on a smaller scale for a luminaria event to honor those affected by cancer.

Lynch, along with University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee student Jordan Gorrell and Harmony’s Tiffany Thornhill, helped coordinate the local event and recruited volunteers, including high school students, longtime American Cancer Society volunteers and cancer survivors.

“I love seeing everybody come together for a common goal and common results and having that sense of accomplishment after you do that,” Lynch says. “There’s nothing like being at the actual event that you planned and seeing the whole vision come together.”

Country Club East’s Lynn Minnelli had never been to a Relay for Life event, but after volunteering every so often with the American Cancer Society and being furloughed from her job, she wanted to be more involved.

“It was amazing just seeing everybody’s names on the bags not only in memory of but also in honor of people and how everybody is stepping up to support their friends and their family that are fighting this disease,” she says.

Minnelli was diagnosed with breast cancer on New Year’s Eve in 2015. She underwent a lumpectomy and then six rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. She was also treated with the drug Herceptin, which doctors told her if the drug had not been developed, her journey would have been vastly different. Minnelli has been in remission for three years.

“The support I received from my family and my friends was just amazing,” she says. “Then getting involved with Making Strides and volunteering for the American Cancer Society has just made me feel like now that I survived, I can give back. That just makes me feel like maybe I can do something for someone else.”

Through Neighbors Unite, the group sold 570 luminarias to put along Main Street at Lakewood Ranch. The event raised $5,720.

“I’m so thankful for all the research that is being done for breast cancer and any other cancer because just knowing how that helped me and knowing if new drugs can help people like that, that’s amazing,” Minnelli says.

The fight continues

Lynch says the nonprofit is facing a 50% decrease in income and donations this year as a result of the pandemic, which will affect not only fundraising efforts but also the resources it provides across the country, including those in Lakewood Ranch.

“It’s the first time in a decade that we’ve had that low [of funding],” Lynch says.

Chris Galli, a sophomore at Lakewood Ranch High School, is working to raise money through the Real Men Wear Pink campaign, which is a group of men raising awareness and money to save lives from breast cancer.

Galli became involved in the campaign in September in honor of his grandmother, Debby Tremblay, who is a cancer survivor.

“Not only am I in a way helping my grandmother, [being involved in the campaign] makes me feel like I’m helping a lot of people,” Galli says.

Galli says his grandmother’s diagnosis was heartbreaking because he couldn’t do anything to help her, so he’s happy to be involved in raising money to help others who have cancer.

He has raised $920 since September and has a goal of raising $2,500.

“It’s a great feeling,” Galli says. “It’s actually crazy to me that I almost raised $1,000.”

Besides the research that could someday find a cure for cancer, the American Cancer Society provides resources to help patients and their families every day, including its 24/7 hotline; its website, Cancer.org; the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Hope Lodge; the Reach to Recovery program; and the Road to Recovery program.

Due to the pandemic, the American Cancer Society had to make Reach to Recovery, which pairs a person living with breast cancer to a breast cancer survivor to provide support, virtual. The nonprofit also repurposed Hope Lodge to provide housing for front-line workers. The Road to Recovery program, which provides rides to treatment for patients, was put on hold.

“We need [donations and volunteers] now more than ever,” Lynch says. “The mission matters now more than ever. Cancer hasn’t stopped, so neither can we.”