Letter to the Editor

Thank you Vernon County for your support

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Dear Editor:

The Vernon County Cancer Relief Fund held its fifth annual fund raising dinner and live auction on Saturday evening, Aug. 25 at Nevada Eagle's Lodge. This event was a tremendous success, with 350-plus individuals attending the function to support VCCR. On behalf of the VCCR Board of Directors, I would like to thank everyone (individuals and businesses) for their contributions of time and/or money who made this annual event so successful.

Vernon County Cancer Relief is a non-profit, charitable and tax exempt organization that assists Vernon County residents and their families while undergoing active cancer treatments. Applications for assistance may be obtained by visiting www.vernoncountycancerrelief.org or by contacting any VCCR board member.

Also during the event last Saturday night VCCR celebrated its 25th anniversary of reaching out with love, hope, and concern to this community. VCCR was founded Sept. 23, 1987 through the heartfelt concern and efforts of one woman with a vision, Jody Renwick, who engaged others in this community to enhance the lives of people affected by cancer. Funding was originally made possible by a grant received from the Finis Moss Charitable Trust.

We had a great group of volunteers who assisted with setup, decorating, and clean up ... and also had wonderful volunteers who worked behind the scenes in the kitchen and who also plated the dinner. Our "celebrity waiters" did an awesome job serving dinner and waiting tables ... raising more than $5,000 in tips! This year, there was a close battle for the "celebrity waiter most tips raised traveling trophy." This year, Dr. Bill Turner took the trophy home, raising more than $1,400. Coming in second was last year's champion Gary DeCocq, who raised more than $1,200. Our third place winner was David Cherry, new to being a waiter for VCCR, yet he raised more than $1,000. Congratulations to these three men for their accomplishments!

Raffle tickets were sold for chances to win a 1/2 carat loose diamond donated by Rinehart Jewelry. This event turned out to be a lot of fun, as everyone who purchased a chance picked out a live, long stem rose with small bags attached to the roses. Each of the bags were filled with 1 loose Cubic Zirconia stone and 1 bag held the real diamond. Rinehart Jewelry employees were on hand with testers and tested each stone until they found out who held the real diamond.

I would also like to offer a special thank you to the Nevada Eagles Lodge who furnished the lodge for the event at no cost to VCCR. Nevada Eagles are a great partner with VCCR and they also do a lot of good in this community themselves, as well as nationally.

We are very grateful to the people of this community for their continued support to Vernon County Cancer Relief. We hope to see many of you again at our winter fund raising dinner in February 2013. Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making this organization a continued success.

Sincerely,

Mike Turnbull, president

Vernon County Cancer Relief