A coalition of local organizations, area businesses and community residents are partnering with a local cancer center foundation to raise money for cancer patients.

The second annual Let’s Tee it up for a Cure golf tournament, set for Sep. 6 at both the Washington Yacht and Country Club and Cypress Landing in Chocowinity, will include a lineup of fun and charitable activities, said Pam Shadle, Last year, over $29,000 was raised for the Shephard Cancer Foundation. The idea for the event spawned from the desire to raise money for the local facility and its capability in offering support and services to Beaufort County cancer patients and their caregivers, as well as survivors, Shadle said.

Each club has a team of club members that serve on the committee that has been planning the event and associated activities, Shadle said. The clubs are selling golf sponsorships, bows, raffle tickets, hole sponsorships, honor and memory board signs, in addition to planning the Hope and Heroes Walk, which will be held at Cypress Landing on Sep. 4 and presented by PotashCorp-Aurora. Participants have the option of a three-mile or one and a half-mile walk around the golf course. All of this will raise money for the Shepard Cancer Foundation.

An important component of the fundraiser has been a group of ladies from each club who are making and selling bows in honor of those who had, or are currently battling, cancer, Shadle said. Local businesses have joined the campaign by purchasing purple and pink business bows, an idea the group formulated for businesses to purchase and display to show their support of the event. Each business bow is acquired through a donation of $25 or more. Residents can show their support by purchasing purple bows through a donation of $15 or more.

So far, across Beaufort County, a total of 697 bows have been made and sold, raising around $14,000, Shadle said. The selling of the bows has generated total profit without a single expense because Paige Wright of the Blythe House in Washington has donated all of the ribbon for the bow making. Wright said she has partnered with the group because of a personal vested interest in cancer awareness — the loss of a loved one to cancer.

“This holds a special place in my heart,” Wright said. “I have experienced and witnessed a lot of touching and heartbreaking situations. I am flattered to have been approached to participate in this fundraiser.”

Susan Klein, a breast cancer survivor and representative of Washington Yacht and Country Club, who was diagnosed in 2011, received radiation in Washington and continues to help those still fighting cancer, she said. The money raised from the event and its activities will help the Shephard Cancer Foundation in its mission to financially support the Marion L. Shephard Cancer Center, a department of Vidant Beaufort Hospital, in its efforts to improve the mind, body and spirit of cancer patients, survivors and caregivers. Proceeds will also help provide free educational programs to patients and their families, complementary therapy programs such as yoga, massage and pet therapy as well as assistance for those who may be financially burdened by their condition, Shadle said.

“Once you go through it and you see the people going through it and their caregivers, you realize how much need is out there beyond what the doctors give you,” Klein said. “There is so much need beyond the treatment and that’s what these monies go toward.”

For more information, call Cypress Landing Golf Club at 252-946-7788, Washington Yacht and Country Club at 252-946-3245 or Vidant Beaufort Hospital at 252-975-4134.