Year End Message From Rocky

Dear Friends:

As the year winds down and we celebrate National Gratitude Month, we wanted to take a moment to express our sincere gratitude for your continued support of CSGC! We open our doors every day to help those facing cancer in our community. We assist anyone with a cancer diagnosis that lives, works, or is treated in Grant County. Check out some of the ways that your support of CSGC helped those facing cancer in our community in 2025: 

Our Cancer Assistance Program helps with cancer related transportation, prescriptions, equipment, supplies, patient navigation, and more! We provide all of these services 100% free! It is because of your support that we were able to purchase over 100 prescriptions for our clients, provide gas cards for more than 300 appointments, and our volunteer drivers logged over 4,000 miles taking our clients to their appointments. Thank you!  

The BESS (Breast, Education, Screening, & Survival) Program started in 2000 due to the high rates of breast cancer in Grant County. Over the years, the program has provided thousands of free mammograms and additional testing as needed, and 66 women have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Two were diagnosed this year!  Your generosity makes the BESS Program possible.  Thank you!

Funding for both programs comes from grants, fundraisers, donations, memorials, and estates. Your generosity makes this care possible, and we hope you will consider a gift that helps us continue supporting those facing cancer in their time of need.

Sincerely,

Rocky Whitehead Executive Director

Cancer Services Hosts Color Me Pink Fun Run, Auction

GAS CITY — Cancer Services of Grant County hosted its Color Me Pink fun run and silent auction Saturday, Oct. 4. The annual events support local cancer assistance programs and the Breast, Education, Screening and Survival (BESS) program, which promotes early breast cancer detection.

The silent auction event began at 10 a.m. at Gas City Park, with the fun run starting at noon. Participants ran or walked through a course featuring color and bubble stations while volunteers tossed pink powder.

Vendors, music and snacks added to the day’s activities. The silent auction featured items donated by local businesses and community members.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Cancer Services’ general programs and the BESS program, which helps provide free mammograms and diagnostic services for Grant County residents.

Executive Director of Cancer Services Rocky Whitehead said the first fun run took place in 2014, but the BESS program began in 2000.

“Back then, Grant County was a high risk area for breast cancer, and it (the BESS program) was heavily funded by grants,” Whitehead said. “At the time, it was like that for the first 10-13 years or so of it. We were providing upwards of 500 mammograms a year for free, and additional testing as needed.”

In 2013, Whitehead said Grant County was removed from the high risk population areas for breast cancer. Because of that, they lost grant funding for the program and as a result, created the fun run as a way to raise money for the program in 2014.

In addition to the run, there is also a silent auction for people to place bids on donated items from community members. Whitehead said they average about 100 auction items up for grabs.

“Over the 25 years of the programs, we’ve provided thousands of free mammograms. We’ve diagnosed 66 women through the program, which two of them were this year,” Whitehead said. “So, this is still very much needed.”

Whitehead encourages any woman the age of 40 or older to come in for a mammogram screening. He also said if someone were to be younger than 40 but have a family history of breast cancer, then they are also welcome to come in for a screening. “At the end of the day, that’s why we open our door everyday. It’s for those who may be facing breast cancer in our community,” he said.

Article by Brianna Coffing, Reporter for the Chronicle Tribune

Could You Lend a Hand?

I know what you’re thinking.  An appeal letter from Cancer Services of Grant County in June? Don’t they usually send their appeal letter out in November to ask for donations? Why are they sending one out in June?  To answer simply, we are asking in June out of necessity.  In my opinion, one of the most difficult aspects of working at CSGC is juggling how of often we solicit for dollars to support our Cancer Assistance Program. CSGC has been helping those facing cancer in our community since 1959. We help anyone with a cancer diagnosis whether they live, work, or are treated in Grant County. We assist with cancer related transportation, prescriptions, equipment, supplies, advocacy, patient navigation, and more. We provide all of these services 100% free! Our funding comes from fundraisers, grants, donations, memorials, and estates. All of the money we raise stays right here in Grant County to help those facing cancer in our community. As much as I hate to ask again, our client’s needs will always outweigh my concern of over- asking the community for help. It is with that in mind that we humbly reach our hand out to ask, will you please “Lend A Hand?”

CSGC’s mission is a comprehensive effort to increase survival rates and embrace families facing cancer in Grant County. Our Cancer Assistance Program is the comprehensive effort from our mission statement. We open our doors every day to help those facing cancer in our community and we will continue to do so as long as there is a need. When we meet with someone for the first time, our compassionate advocates do an in-depth intake with them, asking lots of questions that enable us to create a care plan. Since no two cancer journeys are the same, every care plan is unique to each client, as are the burdens of access to care they are facing.

Grant County has historically been one of the unhealthiest counties in the state and currently ranks 89th out of the 92 counties in the state in health outcomes. Grant County is also one of 34 counties where cancer death rates are higher than the state average. Over the last three years our Cancer Assistance Program has:

·         Assisted approximately 300 clients per year

·         Purchased nearly 100 cancer related prescriptions per year

·         Provided gas cards for approximately 300 cancer related appointments per year

·         Provided rides to more than 360 cancer related appointments per year

·         Provided durable medical equipment and supplies more than 235 times per year

Enclosed with this letter are all the different ways you can lend a hand to CSGC! Thank you for considering CSGC and the vital work we do.  Your generosity will make a real difference in the lives of many.

Sincerely,

Rocky Whitehead Executive Director