Benevolence fund helps cancer patients ‘one tank of gas at a time’

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December 30, 2008

By Jennifer Jacob Brown / staff writer The Meridian Star Tue Dec 30, 2008, 11:43 PM CST

WTOK-TV News Director John Johnson said he struggled through the marathon that he ran to raise awareness and money for cancer patients.

"I hate running with a passion," he said. "But it was something that I thought I had to do, and it gave me a goal... I've realized how (cancer) devastates families... When I ran two weeks ago it was with them in my heart."

He knows that his struggle to finish the race was nothing compared to that of the cancer patients he was trying to help. Johnson, along with the Community Foundation of East Mississippi and WTOK, helped raise $6,900 for the Jeff Anderson Regional Cancer Center's Cancer Patient Benevolence Fund.

"This story is really not about me," Johnson told a group of cancer patient advocates Tuesday. "It's really about the cancer patients who benefit from what you do for them."

The Cancer Patient Benevolence Fund helps with the expenses of patients who receive treatment from Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center or Jeff Anderson Regional Cancer Center.

The expenses with which the fund is meant to assist are medical costs, utilities or rent, transportation to and from treatment, durable medical equipment and tube feedings, breast prostheses, items such as wigs and hats that are often needed by cancer patients undergoing treatment, and other assistance as deemed appropriate.

"It's that lady who can't afford a wig," said JARCC Administrative Director Wayne Herrington. "It's that person whose insurance doesn't cover pain medication... It's that woman whose medicare, medicaid doesn't cover prosthesis after breast surgery... These are the true, true heroes."

Herrington compared the struggles of a cancer patient to a so-called runner's wall — that point where the runner thinks, "I just can't run another step."

"This benevolence fund is there," Herrington said, "to nudge them just a little way so they can break through that wall."

Almost $10,000 from the fund has been spent helping Jeff Anderson cancer patients get past some of their many hurdles, Herrington said. The fund is there to help people "one tank of gas at a time, one prosthesis at a time, one wig at a time, one nausea medication at a time," he said.

"One of the largest storylines today is really the difference one person can make," Roman Herrington, the Community Foundation's executive director, said Tuesday. "Certainly we would not be here today if John hadn't made the decision to move to the other side of the camera and become the story himself."

The Community Foundation is still accepting donations for the benevolence fund, and members of the community are encouraged to make a difference by donating to a worthy cause.

Want to help?

To donate to the Cancer Patient Benevolence Fund and help ease the struggles of cancer patients in Meridian, contact the Community Foundation of East Mississippi office at (601) 696-3035. To learn more about the Community Foundation and the numerous charities it helps, visit www.cfem.org.

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Benevolence fund helps cancer patients ‘one tank of gas at a time’

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