BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The Give Like Santa’s Sleigh Cancer Awareness Festival will return to Courthouse Square in Inez on June 6. The afternoon will bring family-friendly activities to raise awareness and funds for cancer research.
The event will run from 3 p.m. to dark and feature food trucks, live music, a cornhole tournament, children’s games and activities, face painting, raffles, Mrs. Claus’ treats, cancer awareness booths, and photo opportunities with Santa Claus. Organizers are planning a survivor celebration. Also as the sun sets, participants will light candles along the old courthouse wall to honor the memory of those lost to cancer.
Local residents Matthew and Angela Ising, known affectionately as Santa and Mrs. C, are leading the event. The couple have dedicated themselves to accelerating funding for innovative cancer research through grassroots efforts like this one.
The Isings say Give Like Santa’s mission is to spread giving like Santa and loving like Jesus—every day. They carry out “Santa Causes” throughout the year, not as a traditional charity but as a “multiplier.” The two use their roles as Santa and Mrs. Claus to bake, sell, walk, bike and help organizations raise more funds and expand their reach.
“It’s not just fundraising,” Matthew Ising said. “We’re trying to bring awareness to eastern Kentucky and Martin County.”
Angela Ising points out that Kentucky is the No. 1 state in the country for lung cancer and colon cancer.
“It’s also No. 1 for when you are diagnosed with cancer, it’s stage 3 or stage 4,” said Angela.
The Sleigh Cancer Awareness Festival will support Pelotonia. This nonprofit organization hosts an annual bicycle ride in Columbus, Ohio. Funds support cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
Ride Weekend, set for Aug. 2 and 3, welcomes over 6,500 riders annually, crossing Central Ohio on routes ranging from 24 to 190 miles, including one and two-day ride options. Since 2009, Ride Weekend participants have joined an inspired community to raise more than $309 million, with 100% of participant-raised funds directed to innovative cancer research at the OSUCCC – James.
As June 6 approaches, the Isings are seeking vendors, volunteers and sponsors to join their efforts. They hope to incorporate a mobile breast screening unit and the Martin County Health Department’s smoking cessation program into the event. The organizers encourage businesses to contribute raffle items, make donations or offer sponsorships to support the festival.
Matthew Ising’s commitment to funding cancer research began when doctors diagnosed his first wife, Sue, with bile duct cancer in 2009. She died Dec. 26, 2010. During her treatment at The James, Matthew discovered Pelotonia and began riding to raise money for cancer research. Today he continues to ride, motivated by the hope of protecting his two daughters who may face similar risks.
Angela Ising also understands personally the life-saving power of cancer research. Thanks to early testing, doctors diagnosed her daughter-in-law in Georgia with Lynch Syndrome—the same inherited genetic disorder that claimed her mother’s life.
Angela later learned that researchers at OSU discovered Lynch Syndrome, which greatly increases the risk of colon, ovarian and uterine cancers. Because Pelotonia helped fund that research, she feels a deep obligation to continue supporting cancer research fundraising. More importantly, she hopes her grandchildren, who face a 50/50 chance of inheriting Lynch Syndrome, will grow up in a world without cancer.
Stay tuned for updates. For more information contact “Santa & Mrs. C” through the Give Like Santa Facebook page.
Learn more about Pelotonia at pelotonia.org/.