SPOTLIGHT CANCER CHALLENGE

Cancer Challenge fan asks for participation

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/JASON IVESTER --06/08/12--
Tiffany Blankenship; shot on Friday, June 8, 2012, for nwp spotlight on Cancer Challenge
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/JASON IVESTER --06/08/12-- Tiffany Blankenship; shot on Friday, June 8, 2012, for nwp spotlight on Cancer Challenge

— All she had to do was ask.

Tiffany Blankenship of Bella Vista is the head of the auction committee for Friday night’s Sparkle and Spurs Gala. The auction and gala are part of the 2012 Cancer Challenge, which includes a series of sporting events that run from Thursday through Saturday in Benton County.

Blankenship has been involved with the Cancer Challenge for six years, but this is the first time she has headed the auction committee. The committee has assembled close to 170 combined items for the live and silent auctions, the majority of which are in the silent auction.

Some are special trips, like a Major League Baseball package that includes tickets to the All-Star game, or a five-night stay in a condominium in the ski resort town of East Vail, Colo.

“We’ve tried to get some unique things that are a little more difficult to get ahold of, things you just can’t go out and easily get,” Blankenship says. “When the auction team gets together at the beginning, we ask, ‘What do we want to accomplish?’ and then members go out to the community and ask people they know [for donations].”

For Blankenship and the members of her committee, it’s easy to ask people for donations.

She is vice president of sales at Polygroup and doesn’t hesitate to use her extensive business contacts if she thinks it will raise money for the Cancer Challenge. She says there have been times when she has met someone in theWal-Mart/Sam’s Club vendor community and asked them to contribute - that day.

“The Vail condo was an ‘ask,’” she says. “Someone in the group said, ‘I know someone,’ and sure enough, we’ve got a five-night stay [available].

“It’s just the ‘ask.’ What’s the worst that can happen? They say no?”

As has been the case in years past, the Cancer Challenge offers an array of events, hoping to draw as many participants as possible. There are golf, tennis and trap shooting tournaments, runs of different lengths, a wine and cheese social, and the Sparkle and Spurs Gala.

Tickets to the gala are $100 each, and it begins at 6 p.m. at the John Q. Hammons Convention Center in Rogers. The fundraising goal for the Cancer Challenge is $650,000, according to executive director Tina Waggener.

“It’s hard to [find] someone that doesn’t have a family member or friend thatis currently battling cancer or has battled cancer,” says Blankenship, whose first experience with the challenge was as part of a trap-shooting team. “It doesn’t just pick one little section of the population; it’s everyone.”

The Cancer Challenge began as the Bella Vista Cancer Challenge in 1994; it adopted its current name two years later. Over the course of its existence, the Cancer Challenge has raised more than $9 million.

The money raised will go to many nonprofit groups in Northwest Arkansas. Grant recipients will include Hope Cancer Resources in Springdale; Community Clinic in Siloam Springs, Rogers and Springdale; the Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center in Fayetteville; and Washington Regional’s Cancer Support Homes in Fayetteville and Bentonville.

“I’ve had family members survive cancer, pass away from cancer, and this is just my way to make a difference and try to help other people who are going through the same thing I’ve seen my family members go through,” Blankenship says. “[These support groups] offer services, wigs, prosthetics, they help with transportation and paying bills, things peopleshouldn’t have to think about when they’re going through cancer.”For more information about the Cancer Challenge, call (479) 273-3172 or visit

cancerchallenge.com

.

Northwest Profile, Pages 31 on 06/17/2012

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