This year’s FRIPP FOR A CURE was especially exciting. After a tremendously successful “Las-Vegas style” golf scramble on Tuesday, October 14, islanders welcomed back “their own” Candice Glover. Sunday evening’s performance by Glover, 2013 American Idol Winner and a former Fripp Island Excursions employee, was the culmination of months of planning and the perfect finale to the week’s activities.
This year’s co-chairs Anne Hoyle and Diane McGarry couldn’t have been more pleased. Although contributions are still being tallied, the event has already raised over $55,000 for the Beaufort Memorial Keyserling Cancer Center — a cause that is near and dear to the community’s heart.
“Each year we are reminded just how special and generous the people are that live on Fripp Island,” said event co-founder Bev Fineis.
Co-founder Chris Assaf remembers when a friend on Fripp was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. She and several others took turns driving their neighbor to daily radiation treatments in Savannah. And as they drove down Ribaut Road, her friend pointed wistfully to the Keyserling Cancer Center in Port Royal — under construction at the time — and said, “If they were open now, I could go there.”
That’s when Assaf realized what a difference the Keyserling Cancer Center would make in the lives of people who live in this community. It’s hard enough to fight cancer without a three-hour daily commute for treatment.
At the same time, the Fripp Island Women’s Golf Association was holding their annual charity golf tournament. As that event grew in scale, Assaf and Fineis proposed changing the name to FRIPP FOR A CURE and designating the Keyserling Cancer Center as the beneficiary.
And what a difference that has made. In the last five years, FRIPP FOR A CURE has raised nearly $200,000 for the Keyserling Cancer Center. These donations have helped continue the Beaufort Memorial Hospital
Foundation’s tradition of underwriting at least half of all building, equipment and enhancements to the eight-year-old facility.
“Fripp for a Cure has jump-started the accumulation of funds we will need to keep the Foundation’s half of the bargain,” said BMH Foundation Executive Director Alice Moss, noting that the need for significant equipment replacement and expansion are inevitable in the not-too-distant future.
“We are in awe of the passion and the effort put forth by our Fripp Island friends to make such a significant impact,” said Moss. “Their efforts will help Beaufort Memorial to continue to use the very latest technologies and provide the very best care for our cancer patients.”
