Barksdale Cancer Foundation Plans Poker Run 

8th Annual Event to Be Held Saturday, July 23

By April Hall, Staff Writer

WYLLIESBURG – The Barksdale Cancer Foundation’s eighth annual Poker Run will be held Saturday, July 23 at the Wylliesburg Tastee Freez, located on Highway 360. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. with the first bike out at 10 a.m. and last bike out at 11 a.m.

The Barksdale Cancer Foundation was founded in 1999 after the Barksdale family from Phenix lost three family members in a four-year period to cancer. Seeing the suffering and anguish experienced during these trying years, the family decided it would like to memorialize their loved ones and at the same time help others in Charlotte County who were suffering due to the same illness.

In the first years, the Barksdale family held auctions amongst themselves instead of exchanging Christmas gifts, donating and selling to each other. Those events netted over $14,000 which the family gave to a cancer society group. However, when they discovered that the money did not remain in the county to help citizens, they set about finding a way to do so. They applied for and received a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and took the organization public, realizing they needed help from outside the parameters of their family in order to increase fundraising efforts.

To date, the organization has given out 199 grants totaling nearly $120,000 to patients in Charlotte County. The group does more than just award money to patients. They have partnered with a task force which is funded by the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and VCU Cancer Center. This coalition has strengthened local cancer organizations and given them resources not otherwise available.

The partnership allows the foundation to provide educational packets, along with “comfort bags” that are thermal and reusable, and filled with items that help make doctor visits more pleasant. Other items that the foundation has been able to obtain for patients are wigs, caps, “boogie boards,” port protectors and a variety of prosthesis items for breast cancer patients. The organization, along with help from others in the area, has also authored a transportation brochure, which not only helps patients having difficulty getting to and from appointments, but puts them in touch with cab companies and transport businesses which offer a reduced rate for cancer patients.

In addition, the Barksdale Cancer Foundation annually awards a $1,000 scholarship to a graduating county student who is pursuing a career in the medical field, preferably in the field of oncology.

Wendy Lankford, President of the Barksdale Cancer Foundation and an eight-year survivor of a rare type of cancer called adenoid cystic carcinoma, said, “That experience in my life has made me absolutely passionate about this organization, and I truly feel that it is the reason the Lord has kept me here, to help take care of Charlotte County’s cancer patients.”

The entry fee for the Poker Run will be $20 and includes lunch. Breakfast vouchers are available for purchase. There will be raffle prizes drawn and vintage cars are welcome to join. For more information on the Poker Run please call Kim at 434-414-5032, Wendy at 434-470-1538 or Pixie at 434-568-6931.

For anyone who is unable to make it to the poker run but would like to make a tax-deductible donation to the Barksdale Cancer Foundation, you may do so by mailing it to BCF, PO Box 225, Charlotte Court House, VA 23923.

If you know of someone in Charlotte County who is battling cancer and in need of assistance, please call Terri Jones at 434-735-8196 for an application.