Marquette, MI – January 10, 2017 – Marquette West Rotary Club had lunch at the Landmark Inn today for our regular meeting. The day’s presentation featured a talk about Cancer Care of Marquette County. The mission is to be grass roots and to help with copays, transportation, premiums, and helping folks when they’re really down. The support they offer is costly, but desperately needed by our local community. Most of the programs funds come from fundraising within the community.
Lynn Bartanen, a retired Oncologist from Marquette General Hospital and co-owner of Bartanen’s Auto Body with her husband, Steve, spoke to the club about Cancer Care of Marquette County. She saw that there was a need for financial assistance in the community when it came to battling cancer.
Barbara Salmela, our second speaker, is a pharmacist getting ready to retire. She loves our area and wants to help raise funds to “Stick it to Cancer”. Barb has attended several cancer events in Blaine, Minnesota. She ran her first “Stick it to Cancer” tournament in Marquette last year raising $6,000. The co-ed adult hockey tournament donated the proceeds to help a young man from Grand Rapids afford cancer treatments.
Medical costs for cancer can be upwards of $50,000 for a single dose and grass roots help is critical for our area. Making a decision about insurance or care is a decision people like Lynn Bartanen and Barb Samela want to help with. Copays are high, diagnostic scans are $20,000, and bone marrow transplants are costly and are not done locally. Cancer Care of Marquette County tries to get to know their patients and will help pay travel and care fees to help support those dealing with cancer. The group also sees patients come in with highs copays for local pharmacies and helps cover some of those costs as well.
Planning another tournament for Marquette County at Lakeview Arena, Cancer Care of Marquette County is looking to raise more funds to help support Michigan cancer patients! They’re hoping for 12 teams to participate and the fundraiser will be held March 2nd-4th. The entry fee will be $500 with a goodwill donation as a fee for spectating. Last year’s local hockey tournament ended with team TeaSellies playing Midway Rentals in the finals!
If you have cancer and need care, or know someone struggling, call (906) 485-2156 to fill out an application and the team will help you with the details.
To sign your team up for the Stick It To Cancer 2018 Adult Co-Ed Hockey Tournament, text or call Barbara Salmela at (906) 250-1016.
