A Helping Hand
BRAIN TUMOR SURVIVOR RALLIES SUPPORT
FOR CANCER PATIENTS IN NEED
By Stacie Jones
Ray Potter
is growing out his beard.
No, it’s not a tribute to the hit reality show
Duck Dy-
nasty
. Nor is it a feeble attempt to stay warmer during
the harsh northern Idaho winter.
Ray is growing his prized facial hair to raise money to
help cancer patients.
“I’m not shaving until April,” he said. “I want to see
how much I can sell my beard for, then donate the
money to the Cancer Patient Support Fund.”
The beard-growing challenge is the most recent of
Ray’s many efforts to raise money for the Kootenai
Health Foundation’s Cancer Patient Support Fund. As
an active member and past president of the Fraternal
Order of Eagles in Hayden, Ray has rallied community
support for the fund through Eagles charity dinners and
other fundraising activities. Under his leadership, the
Eagles donated $16,500 to the Cancer Patient Sup-
port Fund just last year.
“With its motto ‘People Helping People,’ the Eagles
club has served as a vehicle for me to give back to the
community and to raise money for a cause that’s very
important to me,” he said.
The Cancer Patient Support Fund provides patients
the additional resources they may need to cope with
the financial strain that often accompanies a cancer
diagnosis. Support from the fund can help patients pay
for life essentials like nutritional supplements, emer-
gency medications, utility bills, food and even gas to
get to their treatments.
“Having cancer and going through treatment is diffi-
cult enough, let alone having to worry about everything
else in daily life,” Ray said. “If I can help one person
from having to worry as much, then I feel I’ve made a
difference.”
Ray knows firsthand the impact the Cancer Patient
Support Fund can have in a cancer patient’s life.
In April 2009, just months before his wedding to
his wife, Darcy, Ray discovered that the brain tumor
that he had survived in 2002 had grown back. After
surgery to remove the cancer once again, he started
chemotherapy with a special pill designed to treat
brain tumors. He had minimal health insurance, but
the expensive medication would cost him thousands
of dollars from his own pocket. Unable to work at his
job at Les Schwab, and with a growing pile of medical
bills, Ray needed help.
“That’s when a Kootenai Health social worker told
me about the Cancer Patient Support Fund,” he said.
“They gave me a grant to assist with the co-payment
for the medication. I will always be grateful for that.”
Ray’s story is not unique. More than 200 people pass
through the cancer center every day. While many of
these patients have insurance, they are also on a fixed
income or don’t have an income because they can’t work
during treatment. They may also be parents who are
forced to make a choice between paying for prescrip-
tions and putting food on the table for their children.
“The purpose of the Cancer Patient Support Fund is
to remove these difficult decisions by providing funding
when dollars are tight,” said Shawn Bassham, presi-
dent of the Kootenai Health Foundation.
In 2012, the fund distributed a total of $27,000
to provide much-needed assistance to 194 patients.
The fund helped a 67-year-old breast cancer patient
pay a month’s rent while she completed treatment and
chemotherapy. It helped a 53-year-old single father
with stage IV colon cancer buy colostomy supplies. It
provided gas vouchers so that a single woman could
travel from St. Maries to Post Falls for treatments. It
helped a 48-year-old woman pay her utility bills while
“If I can help one person from having
to worry as much, then I feel I’ve made
a difference.”
—Ray Potter
18
GIVING BACK
