An annual barbecue fundraiser helps bring balance - in two different ways - to the lives of patients at the Capital Region Goldschmidt Cancer Center in Jefferson City.
The 23rd Boost Barbecue, sponsored by the Naught-Naught Insurance Agency, attracted a large crowd to the Jefferson City Jaycees Fairgrounds Thursday evening. People turned out for a meal of barbecue pork steaks, chicken, baked beans, coleslaw and bread to support the supplemental nutrition and wig programs at Goldschmidt. Tickets sold at $15 per person for the fundraiser, which included raffle drawings and a silent auction.
Reflecting on the event's origin, Tom Naught, a co-founder of the Naught-Naught Insurance Agency, said his office decided to benefit cancer patients as a way to give back to the community. The cause is a personal one for Naught and his wife, Sharon. Tom lost his first wife to cancer in 1988, and the disease took the lives of two of Sharon's brothers.
With many friends in the community, Tom said his team knew barbecue would satisfy taste buds while raising money. In the past 23 years, Tom said the barbecue has raised more than $600,000 for the two Goldschmidt programs, typically bringing in around $40,000 each year. More than 1,000 people were served Thursday.
Proceeds go to purchasing nutritional supplements, drinks like Ensure and Glucerna (for diabetics), and wigs for cancer patients. Robert Fluegge, director of the Goldschmidt Cancer Center, said patients from the center's 19-county region receive both products free of charge through their doctors.
Per year, patients can take up to 12 cases of the nutritional drinks each, he added, as they go through radiation therapy. As of June, the center has distributed an average of 18 cases per month.
"We want to pack them with as many minerals and nutrients in each bite," Fluegge said.
Dr. Jay Allen, a radiation oncologist at Goldschmidt, said he treats cancer patients at the center who are already malnourished. As patients endure treatment and the mental stress of dealing with cancer, their metabolism can speed up, he said. Many have lost weight and the nutritional drinks are an easy way for them to consume calories.
"When they're struggling, we remind them that their body is going through a metabolic marathon," Allen said.
Treatment can cause nausea, diarrhea and dehydration. At a time when food sometimes lacks taste or smells disgusting, the drinks go down smoothly. Some patients, more commonly the elderly, don't have the energy to cook their own meals and the drinks, again, come in handy.
Lack of proper nutrition can cause poor recovery from treatments and issues with wound healing, Allen said, explaining more energy can mean a faster recovery.
As a result of treatment, patients loose their hair, and many women seek wigs for appearance purposes and confidence boosters, he said. Allen, who is partially bald, said he will joke with women about hair loss in a way that is self-deprecating while uplifting.
"I tell them that my hair's not coming back, but theirs will," Allen joked. "In the meantime, it runs the gamete from cosmetic to a way for just staying warmer. As a bald guy, being bald in the winter is cold."
Wigs are provided through Goldschmidt's Look Good, Feel Better program as a way to bring back a piece of the patients' pre-cancer lives, Allen said.
"I think it's just that desire. ... There's so much that's gone on that's intruded into their normal lives that there's a desire to try and hang onto things they perceive as normal, and I think it's a good thing for them," he said. "Their whole confidence lights up when you tell them that we have (wigs) and we have people who will help you fit them and make you look good and feel better."