Cancer donation Moses Lake Fire Dept. raises $1,700 for cancer charities

Nov. 17--MOSES LAKE -- Chris Mortensen and other Moses Lake firefighters in Local 2052 recently raised more than $1,700 to donate to cancer charities.

Mortensen said the majority of the money was raised at the Oct. 2 MLHS football game against Post Falls.

Five hundred dollars was donated to the Susan G. Komen organization, while the remaining $1,200 was donated to the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation.

CBCF Executive Director Angel Kneedler received the check at the firehouse on Monday morning. "We appreciate the Fire Department giving to us."

Kneedler said all of the money will be given to local residents. "We help patients in Grant and Adams counties, from diagnosis to treatment."

Travel to and from the rural setting of much of Grant County and Adams County can become quite expensive. Kneedler said the CBCF gives about $4,000 per month to patients, mostly in the form of gas cards. "Gas money. Wigs, hats, scarves -- for practical purposes, things insurance doesn't cover," she said.

As temperatures continue to drop, Local 2052 is conducting Operation Warm Drive, their program to give winter coats to children. Mortensen said local businesses and other donors have already raised enough money for more than 100 coats to be distributed in the coming weeks.

After losing his wife to cancer in 1998, Howard Gallion, motivated by the lack of a cancer treatment center in Moses Lake, started what would become the CBCF in November 2000. According to their site, the CBCF is a non-profit organization with a volunteer Board of Directors.

Kneedler said the CBCF is locally supported and relies on events like Savor the Basin and the Country Sweethearts benefit auction to raise funds for the foundation. More than $4,000 was raised at Savor the Basin in September, but the Country Sweethearts auction is their biggest event each year. "We raised over $88,000 last year, and we're looking to raise even more this year," Kneedler said.

The Country Sweethearts event will be Feb. 6 and will feature dinner, drinks, and auctions both live and silent.

Call 509-764-4644 for information and tickets.

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