2020 Stomp Out Cancer Virtual Telethon-Through 8pm Tonight!

Donations Up To $150,000 Will Be Matched by Anonymous Donor

The Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) Foundation is hosting its annual Stomp Out Cancer Telethon on Wednesday, October 21, 2020. The telethon will be broadcast live throughout the day on the MVHS Facebook page (@mvhealthsystem) from noon to 8 p.m. This year, gifts will have double the impact as all donations up to $150,000 will be matched. This generous donation was made anonymously and is gifted in memory of a remarkable man.

This past spring, as we prepared for our annual Stomp Out Cancer Telethon, originally scheduled for Wednesday, March 25, 2020, we did not know the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic was going to have on our world, country, state and community. We regretfully, yet understandably, needed to postpone the event. However, COVID-19 did not postpone cancer or the treatments that were needed in our community. If anything, it highlighted the fact that cancer can happen to anyone – at any time – even during a pandemic.

“Last year around this time I found a lump,” said Mollie Wadsworth, MVHS Cancer Center patient. “I went to the Imaging Center at MVHS and they did not like what they saw, so they did a biopsy the next day and I was soon diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. I did chemo and had surgery and came to MVHS for my radiation, which started at the end of June. It was a little scary being the middle of a pandemic, but I felt really comfortable coming to the MVHS Cancer Center. Everyone was very nice and I felt very cared for.”

By making a gift of $100 or more, donors will receive a $10 Symeon’s Restaurant gift certificate. A gift of $200 or more will also receive a $10 Utica Coffee Roasting Co. gift certificate.

“It’s important for our community to help support Stomp Out Cancer,” said Wadsworth. “All of the money raised stays right here to help keep equipment and services available and state-of-the-art. I experienced this first hand. It was nice to be able to receive care in my community, near my family. It was a 10 minute drive to get here. I would literally come in and get my treatment, get coffee and go to work. It was that easy and it was possible because of the generosity of our community to Stomp Out Cancer.”

Dollars raised through this year’s telethon will support the purchase of a new, state-of-the-art Linear Accelerator that is greatly needed for the F. E. Romano Family Radiation Oncology Department at the MVHS Cancer Center.

About the Linear Accelerator

A new linear accelerator will allow the MVHS Cancer Center team to target tumors more accurately in a shorter treatment time while also minimizing the dose of radiation to surrounding healthy tissue and organs. The new technology will ensure fast, precise delivery of treatments as well as accuracy in patient positioning.

Our medical and nursing staff sees firsthand the role modern technology plays in the lives of the patients and families cared for at the MVHS Cancer Center. The advanced technology that will be made available thanks to the funds raised by the virtual Telethon will enable the Radiation Oncology Department to provide exceptional care using less intensive methods. These continually improving changes in technology are monumental and it’s important to MVHS to keep the technology current in order to provide our patients with the best treatment possible.

Thank you to the sponsors of the Stomp Out Cancer Telethon including: BMR Inc., First Source Federal Credit Union, Fust Charles Chambers, LLP, IBEW – Local Union No. 43 & The National Electrical Contractors Association, Lawrence Rieben & Sons, Lockton Companies, M&T Bank, Oneida Electric, Stat Staff Professionals Inc., Symeon’s Restaurant, Utica Coffee Roasting Co.

Visit mvhealthsystem.org/stomp-out-cancer to make a pledge or donation at any time or call 315- 624-6464 between noon and 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21, 2020.