There aren’t many words with the power to instantly change someone’s emotional state, to bring painful memories to the surface, and to, when said for the first time to someone sitting in a doctor’s office, bring that person face-to-face with their own mortality. ‘Cancer’ is such a word.
Thankfully, there are people and organizations who care very deeply on a mission to help cancer patients get the treatment and help they need when they need it most. We are fortunate to have two of those people and their organization here in Parker County.
Careity Foundation founders, Lyn Walsh and Beverly Branch began fundraising 35 years ago offering trail rides to bring in donors. Fast forward to today, and Careity’s Celebrity Cutting Event is held at the Will Rogers Memo-rial Coliseum in Fort Worth to a crowd of thousands with enough international celebrities and entertainers that name dropping would take the rest of the space in this article.
To get from trail rides to the coliseum takes grit, passion, and drive. To do it all as a nonprofit that is laser focused on helping patients, takes heart. Lyn and Beverly have all the above.
In their words, “we have a mission, not an agenda.” To the patients they’ve helped along the way it is a mission accomplished, but Lyn and Beverly know there will always be more to do, and more help needed.
The ‘why’ behind the mission springs from a shared child-hood experience – both Lyn and Beverly’s mothers were cancer survivors – and both passed away in 1999. Lyn and Beverly still put on the Careity Celebrity Cutting Event that year. “A mission, not an agenda.”
Careity Foundation offices at the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders on Santa Fe Drive in Weatherford. Their board is comprised solely of physicians because, “we’re making life and death decisions, and we need to be guided by people that know what they’re doing.”
For all the star-power, fanfare, and those beautiful belt buckles for the Cutting participants, all of it is donated.
“We’re doing this to help patients,” Lyn said, and “you can’t help them if you spend all the money.”
Among the myriad of reasons, those two ways of thinking are what set Careity Foundation apart from so many others in the industry (so to speak).
Relationships and trust are the name of the game. Lyn and Beverly have made, kept, and cherished the relationships they’ve made with so many people over the years.
In the early days, Hall of Fame Radio Host known for the ‘American Country Countdown’, the late Bob Kingsley was a person and a relationship that was very important to Careity. When the workload seemed too much and doubt crept in, it was Mr. Kingsley that, “the shot in the arm we needed. He said, ‘you can’t quit. You have to keep going. This is important, and I’ll help you,’” Lyn recalled the words from her friend.
Kingsley was instrumental in getting celebrities to volunteer their time and resources to Careity over the years like Travis Tritt, Clay Walker, Brad Paisley, Tracy Byrd, Cody Johnson, Radney Foster, and more. Lyn and Beverly expressed how grateful they are for their relationship with Taylor Sheridan, Nicole Sheridan, Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, and other ‘Yellowstone’ and ‘1883’ stars. (There had to be a little bit of name-dropping).
The best voices of advocacy, however, don’t come from people we’ve seen on stage at a concert or on the big screen. It’s the voices of patients whose lives have been saved by the mission
of Careity Foundation. Many of the patients speak at events compelling those seeking help to contact Careity – a true testament to their work.
This work must continue. The events aren’t one-and-done. Patients apply to Careity every day meaning every donation, every dollar, every positive message counts and can change a life.
If you’d like to donate, be an event sponsor, or need help in your own journey to recovery, visit www.careity.org to find out more.
Lyn and Beverly had a plethora of people and organiza-tions they are thankful for, starting with the Careity Clin-ical Staff and Physicians on the front lines working with patients every day. They also shared their gratitude for The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, The National Cutting Horse Association, The Center for Cancer and Blood Disor-ders, all the sponsors and volunteers (special thank you to Leon Henry for all his hard work), and many more.
While the hardworking ladies behind Careity Foundation had many thanks to send out, on behalf of all the patients helped, lives changed, hearts and souls mended, and for everyone Careity Foundation has provided grace, love, and support, we say to them, “thank YOU!”
