Fundraiser for breast cancer treatment held in Monett

The second annual Fighting for a Cause or Hunt for a Cause “scavenger hunt” fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks (BCFO), organized by Local No. 2001 of Professional Firefighters in Monett, took place on Sept. 26. Nine teams, three more than last year, participated, going to 13 different sites to engage in challenges to gain points. More time was scheduled to navigate all of the challenges.
Participants went to 12 locations to engage in activities from spray painting a car at Thomas Towing to throwing darts at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post, golf putting at the Windmill Ridge golf course and Brad Hill’s State Farm Insurance office, kicking a football at Burl Fowler Stadium, bowling with tires at Architectural Systems, and knocking over cones with a fire hose stream at Fire Station No. 2. Additional points came from photographing the team in front of the Freedom Silo. 
The team from Architectural Systems Inc. claimed the trophy with 617 points. Morgan Hollow Bookstore, last year’s winner, took second with 536 points. The BCFO entered a team of its own this year and took third with 510 points. 
The activity opened with a survivors’ walk. A street party had been planned to close the event, but due to rain, the closing gathering adjourned to inside Briar House Brewery. 
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Joe Daues, chief executive officer for the BCFO, said funds would be used to help patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer pay living and medical bills. Funds raised at the event would go toward local people. He reported this was the first year the BCFO held an event after the passing of its founder, Mary Beth O’Reilly, who passed on March 7. 
Cassie Branch, another principal local organizer, also spoke at the closing ceremony. After describing her own journey through breast cancer, she pointed out equipment purchased with funds included a seatbelt pillow, to help relieve pressure on treated areas while driving after receiving painful biopsies, and ice packs that could be placed inside bras to relieve inflammation. The fire department would deliver a “bag of goodies” to active patients. The BCFO would also offer gas cards for those driving for treatments and help address costs like mortgages. 
Brian Stellwagen, chief organizer of the event for Firefighters Local No. 2001, said the total raised for the event would not be tabulated until the end of October. Firefighters sell T-shirts on Fridays in October, designated as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, at the parking lot of First State Bank of the Ozarks on Cleveland Avenue, and had a silent auction pending to close the event. Last year’s event raised at least $7,000.