Gala benefits Cancer Outreach

By JUSTIN HARMON/Staff

Quite often you’ll see charity organizations organize galas to bring in money.
But when members of the community organize the event as a way of saying thank you, it makes it a little more special.
“We appreciate the girls who worked so hard to put this on,” said Charlotte Sutherland of the Pink Diamond Gala on Friday night. “It takes a village.”
Sutherland, the chief executive officer of Cancer Outreach in Abingdon, was thrilled to see the turnout of the community-organized event.
According to Debbie Louthian, one of the organizers of the gala, she and Tracy Warner put the event together after both their mothers were diagnosed and subsequently survived breast cancer – with no small amount of help from Abingdon Cancer Outreach.
“We feel like it’s a very worthy cause,” she said.
And just because it was a community organized doesn’t mean it was small. While Louthian said she was still tabulating the head count and money raised, she estimated them to be around 190 and $16,500, respectively.
“With the economy the way it is, there are more people that have lost their jobs and need help as it is,” said Sutherland. “And now we’re getting more referrals than ever.”
Louthian said they weren’t connected to another group: they organized it themselves so the money raised could stay local. According to her, they turned the money over to United Way of Russell and Washington Counties, a partner agency that helps with funding.
Several months ago, Travis Staton with the local United Way said they were partnering with several local businesses to help pay for operation costs in exchange for advertising, so most all of the money donated will go straight to the Cancer Outreach.
Those attending the gala were treated to a dinner as well as both a silent and live auction of donated goods. Donna Puckett, a woman currently fighting cancer gave a speech as well as Dr. Forrest Swan, the founder of and an oncologist at the Cancer Outreach.
According to Louthian, they considered the event a success, but even before they saw just how much they would raise, they had planned on doing more.
“We’re certainly hoping on making this an annual event,” she said.
And though the event was organized by two people who just wanted to thank an organization for their help, they couldn’t have pulled it off without the sponsors. Some of the bigger sponsors, according to Louthian, include Range Resources (where she’s an office manager), Comfort Systems USA, Panther Development, Matney Construction and AJS Construction.
“We’ve had a lot of local support,” she said.
Justin Harmon can be reached at 628-7101 or .