MARTINSVILLE, Va. – October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month. On Saturday, cancer survivors and community members gathered in Martinsville to observe the occasion, with a goal of educating people on the topic and saving lives.
Pat Via is a co-founder of the MLC Cancer Foundation and is a survivor herself.
“My mother had breast cancer, two years prior her sister had breast cancer,” Pat Via said. “They both passed away with cancer. 10 years later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I just made it to my mind that I was going to fight it. That I was going to live, and so I did all of the above.”
She hasn’t slowed down since. Along with her daughter and co-founder Telesa Via, they’re working to educate on the importance of screening, as well as provide access to genetic testing and nutrition services.
“Martinsville and Henry County, we’re so impacted with cancer diagnosis,” Pat Via said. “So, I want to give back to my hometown.”
The organization has raised $120,000 for cancer patients since it was created in 2012.
George Perkins Sr. is a prostate cancer survivor.
“I’m one of the persons that has had cancer also,” Perkins Sr. said. “She helped me tremendously, therefore I do anything I can to help.”
The group will be expanding, as the fundraiser night wrapped up with a surprise donation by Telesa’s father, Ernest Hodge.
“What he’s doing is giving $125,000 for the next 10 years to MLC Cancer Foundation so that we can blossom and not only be in Martinsville, Virginia but have exposure to the full United States of America,” Telesa Via said.