Pressing on in the War on Cancer!

As we experience the joys of the holiday season and look forward with hope to the New Year, let's remember that there are many in our community who are less fortunate and in need of our prayers. Having a passion to defeat cancer, the dreaded disease that took my wife Sandra from me almost a year and a half ago, I am especially mindful of those who are battling cancer today and requesting your prayers on their behalf.

One such person is my long-time friend, Mr. Don Sall, one of the most dedicated community servants that I have ever met. Even though Mr. Sall is not a native Patrick Countian, he has certainly become one of us since he and his late wife, Eleanor, who was an equally wonderul person, came here from "up north." Don has done marvelous things for our community. Most notably, perhaps, he has made the Red Cross blood collection effort in Patrick County one of the most successful programs in the region, an exemplary effort that other communities can only aspire to duplicate. Mr. Sall is also a member of Mountain Home Masonic Lodge No. 263 in Stuart. He is a most caring and concerned individual who would do anything within his power to help others in our community.

Mr. Sall is suffering from a rare bone cancer, and, like so many other cancer patients in our community, he is in need of our prayers. Mr. Sall is preparing to go to Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, MD, one of the top 3 medical facilities in the country, to get a second opinion about the next phase in his treatment for his cancer. He says that doctors have told him that radiation and chemotherapy will not help him, and that his best option now may be to have his left hip and leg removed to prevent gangreen from setting in. He is going to Johns Hopkins to get a second opinion and to explore whether there have been any recent breakthroughs that might be effective in the treatment of his cancer. Mr. Sall's situation looks bleak but he is a man of great faith and optimism and has a wonderful attitude. He has turned his situation over to God's wisdom and grace. We can all look to Mr. Sall as a great example of courage and determination as well as of brotherly love and service to one another. Please remember Mr. Sall in your prayers. Get well cards may be send to Mr. Sall at his residence at 1410 Hazelwood Dr., Stuart, VA 241712.

I am personally honored to know Mr. Sall, to work with him in promoting blood drives and other worthwhile causes in our community, and to call him my friend. I strive daily to be more like Mr. Sall in my dealings with others. He is truly an example of what I, as a Stuart Rotary Club member, strive to offer to others, "service above self" (our club motto). God bless you, Mr. Sall, we are behind you and building a "wall of prayer" around you.

I would again like to urge you to pray for 3-year-old Samantha Mota, who has been diagnosed with a cancerous left eye that will be removed at Duke University Hospital in Durham on Jan. 2nd. While this little girl will be covered with health insurance, provided by her father, Marcus Mota, effective Jan. 1st, and has secured Medicaid coverage through the local social services agency, as I understand, there are still expenses related to her treatment and travels to and from the hospital, that this family of limited means, may have difficulty handling. An account has been opened at SunTrust Bank in the name of Samantha's mother, Amanda Adkins, if you feel led to assist monetarily. If you would like to send Samantha a get well card, send it to: Amanda Adkins, P.O. Box 536, Patrick Springs 24133. Amanda has requested nothing other than our heartfelt prayers for her daughter's recovery and good health. Please lift this little girl up to the "Great Physician" in prayer.

I would also ask that you continue to remember our friend Sandra Health, a breast cancer patient, in prayer as she prepares for the first of 6 rounds of chemotherapy in January. We praise God that Sandra's last report from her doctors was a good one. Pray for Sandra and her husband, Randy, their two children, and other family members as they face this "stumbling block" in what we hope will be a long and happy life for all. Sandra lives at 1993 Elk Creek Rd., Stuart, VA 24171, if you'd like to send her a card. Hang in their, Sandra, you are on your way to victory by KNOCKOUT in your personal bout with cancer.

Cancer is so pervasive in our community and throughout our society. One of every 3 people will be diagnosed with cancer sometime in their life. It doesn't have to be so. I am confident that more effective treatments will be perfected and that ultimately a cure for cancer will be found. But it is up to us to battle back! We can all have an impact in the fight to eradicate the world of cancer, both individually and as a community. I humbly ask all concerned persons in our community to join me and other American Cancer Society supporters and Relay for Life volunteers in the fight against cancer. The 2008 Relay for Life campaign will be launched in January with a goal of $52,000. Let's continue the momentum started in 2007 and more than exceed that goal. Please consider forming a new Relay for Life team to represent your school, business, civic organization, club, family, or other organization in our community, or by becoming a member of an existing Relay team.

The local Relay for Life teams will be providing concessions at the Patrick County Music Association Jamboree on Jan. 26th at Rotary Field, Stuart, as one of our first fund-raisers. Our annual WHEO radio-thon, which contributed almost $18,000 to the $62,000 plus Relay for Life total raised in 2007, will be held just before the Relay for Life event at DeHart Park in May 2008. Please support these and other Relay for Life fundraisers in the coming year by the more than 30 Relay teams in our community. Most of all pray for the success of Patrick County's outstanding Relay for Life program, which earned the county national recognition as the program with the largest increase in funds raised, a jump of over 425% in 2007. We can't rest on these laurels, though, it is time to get to work to raise the money needed to serve those like Don Sall, Samantha Mota, Sandra Health, and other cancer patients and their caregivers, and, most of all, to find a cure so we will never have to face this devastating disease again! Thank you for you prayers and your support of the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life 2008 in Patrick County.

An enthusiastic WHEO "Kilowatt for a Cure,"
Richard