Charity.
In Hebrew, charity is tzedakah, which comes from the biblical word for justice. Giving charity is akin to doing justice and the Bible tells us that “justice, and only justice, you shall pursue”.
Well, we teed up the justice this past week.
The Kim Rowden Breast Cancer Memorial Fund provides breast cancer screening and treatment for women without financial resources and its annual fundraiser was held last week at the Tennessee National Golf Course.
Members of the Rowden family, friends, survivors, nurses and physicians all got together to raise money for the fund. We struck the long ball and pitched the short ball for women who need financial assistance in fighting breast cancer.
So many advances in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment have been discovered over just the past 15 years that many, many more women are surviving this disease and living happy, healthy, full lives.
But these newer treatments cost money. And they ain’t cheap.
From Breast MRI machines, to needle biopsy devices, to safer surgical techniques, to more effective chemotherapies and safer radiation therapies, these new discoveries are saving lives and decreasing the side effects of effective treatments. And that is why we raise funds, to provide an element of justice to women otherwise struck by the most unjust of diseases.
But charity events do more than just raise money.
Charity events raise awareness of breast cancer and awareness of the physicians who treat breast cancer. With community members and physicians intermingling, awareness is raised of the need to fight breast cancer. Community members can begin to see just how deadly this disease can be and understand how curable this disease can be when found early and treated properly.
Physicians see and learn how breast cancer affects the community. Physicians begin to appreciate the effects that treatments have on patients and their families.
So, more than raising money, The Kim Rowden Breast Cancer Memorial Fund Golf Tournament brings justice to those women and men afflicted with breast cancer. Only by working together as a team and as a community can we successfully treat and cure breast cancer.
It is with great appreciation to the Rowden family that we say “Thank you for doing your small part to ease the pain of breast cancer.”
This family has worked so hard to keep the memory of their daughter alive and to ensure that women who could not otherwise afford screening or treatment, receive the medical care they need to treat breast cancer.
Thank you.