I am on the final stretch now of the 51.7 miles walking the Virginia Capital Trail from Jamestown to Richmond!! The weather has been most kind to us though it did get hot last Sunday. The support has been tremendous and meaningful the entire way, from everyone! Thanks to the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation (www.virginiacapitaltrail.org) for pushing my journey out on their social media. It is so wonderful when 2 foundations can show support of the other! A grateful thanks to a few of my co-workers current and past who have played a SIGNIFICANT role in managing the logistics of shuttling us to and from our cars, walking some with us and/or joining us for a few delicious lunches, as we supported the local businesses along the trail. Each day I have been accompanied by a fellow cancer Survivor who was not intimidated to take on a long day’s trek (11-13 miles). It has also been deeply meaningful to have had them come along with me. Like me, they each understand the lasting physical, emotional and financial impact of a cancer diagnosis. They also understand the importance of having a community and a support center, something The Hawthorne Cancer Foundation and Resource Center provides to anyone dealing with a cancer diagnosis regardless of one’s hospital affiliation.
I am raising funds to support The Hawthorne’s Transportation/Discretionary Fund. I started this fund in the winter of 2022 with the cash award ($2,500) received when I was named the National Employee Recipient to the HCA Frist Humanitarian Award. Post COVID, many of the transportation and financial community resources did not recover, leaving Oncology Social Workers everywhere scrambling to help assist our cancer patients with the most basic of needs, gas to get to and from treatment, a ride to treatment as cab and Uber/Lyft services were slow to return to full service for those who have no car, or food. Rather than complain about what wasn’t available, I formed a transportation/discretionary fund as a 2nd pillar to The Hawthorne’s outreach. (If you are interested in learning about all 3 pillars of The Hawthorne’s Resources, e.g., The Weersing Grant, Transportation/Discretionary Fund or The Pink Chair Project, you can check out our website at www.thehawthorne.org). To date, The Hawthorne has distributed $12,600 in gas cards, VISA cards, and UBER/Lyft cards to assist local patients in their time of need. In order to grow this fund and continue to help local cancer patients, I took on the challenge of walking the Capital Trail of Virginia and designated the challenge as an annual fundraiser.
The walk continues this weekend with a slight twist. Tomorrow Saturday, I will be walking the Monument Ave. 10K and will count those 6.1 miles as virtual miles. On Sunday I will advance my start point 6.1 miles from where I ended last Sunday. My walking will look like this:
Saturday April 20: Monument Ave. 10K (6.1 miles)
Sunday April 21: Start at 4 Mile Creek Park at 8:00am and finish at the 51.7 mile marker.
We may stop at Ronnie’s BBQ for lunch if they are open when we pass. Otherwise, we will have a quiet celebration at Bottoms Up Pizza at some point in the early afternoon immediately when I finish.
If you have donated, thank you so much! If you have passed this information along to any of your friends, thank you so much! If you would like to support my cause, please consider a donation equivalent to a single tank of gas. See the link below:
Cheers!
Robin
Robin P. Yoder, MSW, LMSW, OSW-C
Licensed Master’s Social Worker
Oncology Social Worker
2022 HCA National Frist Humanitarian Award Employee Recipient
Co-Founder The Hawthorne Cancer Foundation Resource Center
(804)483-6048
