Rebecca Farm fights cancer with $65,000

Rebecca Farm announced Thursday awards totaling $65,000 to national and local organizations to fight breast cancer as part of its "Halt Cancer at X" initiative.

Launched at this year’s 11th annual Event at Rebecca Farm equestrian triathlon, the initiative awarded $50,000 to a research project including two Nobel Prize-winning scientists, $7,500 for a local educational video for cancer patients and $7,500 for cancer survivor scholarships to attend a local weight-loss and wellness program called One2One.   

Sarah Broussard-Kelly, organizer of the Event at Rebecca Farm, said committee members were unanimous in awarding $50,000 as seed money to grow a larger project conducted by renowned scientists Mario Capecchi, Elizabeth Blackburn, Morris Herzstein and Simon Titen. Their research aims to find more effective gene targets and novel therapeutic agents to prevent breast cancer progression. 

“Two other local projects submitted by Dr. Melissa Hulvat will benefit the Flathead Valley community and fulfill my family's wish to educate and support those with breast cancer and their families,” Broussard-Kelly said.

Kalispell Regional Healthcare Foundation's “Cancer Services Video Series” was awarded $7,500, and the foundation’s Paul Bass Fund “One2One for Cancer Survivors” scholarship program also received $7,500. Hulvat, director of Kalispell Regional Healthcare’s Bass Breast Center, will provide guidance for both projects.

Lynn Andenoro, manager of Northwest Oncology and Hematology Department at Kalispell Regional Healthcare, described the video series as supplementing staff efforts to explain steps in treatment plans to patients overwhelmed by fear, anxiety and stress.

The One2One program helps cancer survivors reduce their risk of recurrence by as much as 50 percent through maintaining a healthy weight and active lifestyle. It provides close mentoring to improve their chances of success.

Christy Ewing, a wellness coach and personal trainer who leads the program, said the “Halt Cancer at X” money allows them to enroll breast cancer survivors at a reduced fee and help them take back control of their bodies.

“Every healthy choice and every small step is an affirmation of who is in charge — the survivor not the cancer,” she said. 

Broussard-Kelly launched this initiative in memory of her mother, Becky Broussard, who died in 2010 from breast cancer. The initiative takes its name from an eventing dressage competition, in which horse and rider halt at the 'X'  spot in the center of the arena to acknowledge the judge before performing a test.

“As we moved into our second decade, I wanted the Event at Rebecca Farm to have more of an effect on a bigger scale,” Broussard-Kelly said. “I wanted to find a way to bring a larger awareness to a disease that affects so many women, mothers and families.”

She called the initiative another branch of her mother’s vision for the Event as a platform  to show off the talents of equestrians in the Northwest. Broussard-Kelly said she was honored to take what her mother created and use it to help women fight breast cancer for a chance to build their own dreams and legacies.

A $5 parking donation collected at the Event helped support this campaign. Additional money came through competitor-solicited pledges, a Calcutta auction, donations and a $20,000 grant from Montana Equestrian Events.