Back in 2011, folks at Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital wanted to do something
to raise awareness about breast cancer in the community and find a way
to ensure that women could get the screenings that could save their lives.
In 2018, they came together to create the Colors of Cancer campaign that
recognized 24 different forms of cancers. Each cancer was assigned a color
and teams came together to create different types of fundraisers that
helped raise awareness, encourage preventive care, celebrate survivors
and remember those who have died.
“You have this vision of what is needed at the hospital to help people
impacted by cancer,” Duce said. “And then you combine that
with all these people who want to give in a grassroots way. You just have
to let go and watch what happens.”
This year’s campaign started last week with a lunch event at the
Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital that offered people a chance to see the
handmade quilts, which include handprints of cancer survivors, created
by the foundation’s co-director Mary Woods.
It will include weekly events like a Thursday pint night at HigherGround
Brewing and one on Saturday at Naps.
On Wednesday, Oct. 9, Wild Wendy’s Bake Sale will be held at the
Canyons Athletic Club, and Valley Drug will host a Colors of Cancer barbecue.
Pink Ladies Night will follow on Thursday at the Hamilton Market Place.
And the Canyons will host a Sprinkle Pink Tennis Tournament on Oct 11-13.
The second annual 5k Fun Run/Survivor’s Walk will be held on Saturday, Oct. 12.
Evans Ace Hardware will host a Grill for the Gold barbecue on Saturday,
Oct. 19, to support donations for childhood cancer. On Thursday, Oct.
24, the Bitterroot School of Cosmetology will host the Golden Locks Donation event.
Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital will host the Art and More silent auction
on Oct. 24-25.
On Oct. 27, the events will wrap up with the Turn & Burn Barrel Race
at the Sapphire Event Center in Corvallis.
And those are just the events already in the works. Last year Duce said
she received checks from different organizations that she had no idea
were planning their own Colors of Cancer event.
“We had some high school kids who kind of went crazy last year,”
she said. “Two high school students from Hamilton and Stevensville
each raised $1,500. … It offered an opportunity to see the kind
of impact that they could have in a short period of time.
“I received checks from events that I didn’t even know were
happening,” she said.
Last year, including the hospital’s match, the campaign raised almost $51,000.
Duce said the hospital’s new CEO, John Bishop, has been very supportive
of the campaign. The money that’s raised is used in a variety of
different ways, including helping people pay for screenings or buying
equipment for new specialists setting up practices in Hamilton.
In September, a general surgeon skilled in performing colonoscopies and
endoscopies set up practice in Hamilton. A dermatologist is expected to
start her own practice in the middle of the month.
“Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital encourages the community to get cancer
screenings on a regular basis,” said Amy James-Linton, the hospital’s
marketing and communications director. “Cancer is preventable if
we all work together to catch it early.”