Cancer Awareness Bracelets
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STILL AVAILABLE! $20.00 Click to Enlarge
In December, 2003 club member Jan Kinion was diagnosed with colon cancer. This was not to be the end of the story, but rather the beginning of a new chapter. From her own experience with her cancer treatments, she knew that Montrose greatly needed a cancer facility to treat patients. Inspired by a cancer awareness bracelet she purchased in Sterling, Colo., Jan set out to make a difference. In November, 2005, with the help of friends, family and members of the car club, she began to make bracelets in a back room of her house with proceeds from their sale going towards the construction of the San Juan Cancer Center, located in Montrose, Colorado. The bracelets contain twelve different colored beads, each color representing a different form of cancer; thirteen silver beads; silver spacers; and, a silver “cancer ribbon”. With no idea of the response she would receive from the public, she was always making "just a few more." Now, more than four years and 5,000 bracelets later, the effort is still going strong thanks to Jan's inspiration and the generosity of the community. Jan & Frank and the car club presented a check to the San Juan Healthcare Foundation as part of the 11th Annual Colorful Colorado Car, Truck & Rod Show on July 15, 2006 in the amount of $29,000 from the sale of the bracelets! A few months later, another check was written to the San Juan Healthcare Foundation in the amount of $11,000 which included $9,500 from bracelet sales and $1,500 net proceeds from the 11th Annual Colorful Colorado Car, Truck & Rod Show.
Since the completion of the cancer center, the net proceeds from the bracelet sales have been used to purchase items that make a visit to the center more comfortable for the patients. So far, the additional funds raised have paid for six IV poles, eight oximeters, four digital thermometers, eighty Eating Well Through Cancer cookbooks, chairs, two Dinamap monitors, an oak puzzle table with a rotating top and two wall-mounted TV's with built-in VCR and DVD players so patients can watch a movie while receiving a treatment and several other items. On January 21, 2010 Jan passed away after a six-year battle with colon cancer. Those of us who knew her and called her a friend miss her dearly. Frank Kinion, with the help of friends and family, continues to make and sell the bracelets and donates the net proceeds to the San Juan Cancer Center, and will do so as long as the bracelets continue to sell. If you haven’t purchased a Cancer Awareness Bracelet yet, you can do so now by ordering one from Frank Kinion at 970-249-6051.
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