Harvest of Hope raises record for cancer center

SEQUIM — The Olympic Medical Center Foundation’s 22nd annual Harvest of Hope netted a record $386,000 for the Olympic Medical Center Cancer Center and for scholarships during a gala that also honored Sound Community Bank and its CEO Laurie Stewart.

Funds raised at Saturday’s dinner and auction presented by Sound Community Bank and the Arrow Marine Group at the Guy Cole Event Center in Sequim will go toward the OMC Cancer Center Patient Navigator Program, the foundation’s scholarship program and for equipment at the OMC Cancer Center in Sequim.

Cancer survivor Ron Sather, who works at 7 Cedars Resort and Casino, told the 312 people attending the gala that he had received “excellent care” at OMC and the OMC Cancer Center.

“My story has a happy ending, but it could have been much different if those facilities weren’t there,” Sather said.

The Patient Navigator Program provides basic living expenses for low-income cancer patients. The foundation’s scholarship program awards $500,000 annually to train local medical students to fill positions at OMC.

“Hope is fueled by empathy” and “purpose-driven action,” said Stewart, a Sequim High School graduate who this month was once again named to American Banker’s Most Powerful Women to Watch List,” as she accepted the Rick Kaps Award for Sound Community Bank.

“Don’t let hope be a fleeting wish but an action,” she urged.

The Kaps Award, named for the former Sequim High School basketball coach and educator who died of cancer in 1998, is presented annually to an organization or individual who has contributed to cancer care and overall health care on the North Olympic Peninsula.

Sound Community Bank has donated to the foundation for the past 34 years, ever since Stewart was named CEO of the company.

Stewart and her family have been touched by cancer in several ways, including the deaths of her husband, Ken, and her mother.

Her contributions to cancer research fundraising have included a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro 15 years ago in memory of her husband.

Three generations of her family have supported the Festival of Trees, another annual OMC Foundation fundraiser.

Sound Community Bank’s “interest in supporting the foundation encompasses both cancer research and also that the North Olympic Peninsula can provide patients of all kinds with superior health care,” Stewart said in an interview before the gala.

“I’m proud of what the foundation has done over the years.”

At the gala, Stewart quoted Emily Dickinson: “Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul/And sings the tune without the words/And never stops at all.”

Then she urged all to “turn that hope into strategy.”

The foundation has contributed more than $4.1 million for the cancer center.

“OMC and the foundation is thankful for all of the support that it has received from hundreds of donors who have contributed towards this effort,” said Karen Rogers, event chair.

Said OMC Foundation Executive Director Bruce Skinner: “We really want to thank out sponsors. Because of their support, every penny raised at Harvest of Hope goes toward the treatment of cancer.”

Those interested in more information or in making a donation to benefit local health care can call the OMC Foundation office at 360-417-7144 or email bruce@omhf.org.

________

Leah Leach is a former executive editor of Peninsula Daily News.