Corks & Pints was full of hundreds of people trying a large selection of beer, wine and spirits for the Bubbles, Bottles & Brew tasting-event fundraiser Friday evening that raised over $12,000. Proceeds from the event go to the Light of Hope Cancer Foundation, which had raised over $125,000 before Friday to support Rice County cancer survivors and their families.
The Light of Hope Cancer Foundation formed in 2022 when local organizers of a Relay For Life benefiting a national cancer organization decided they wanted to keep funds locally.
Bubbles, Bottles and Brew was not a new fundraiser for the group. But 240 attendees this year was unprecedented, according to Light of Hope President Amy Selly.
“(Friday’s fundraiser) was the best turnout that we’ve had for this event so far,” Selly said.
The new organization gives the funds it now raises to cancer patients who live in or are treated in Rice County.
“Light of Hope Cancer Foundation provides financial assistance to Rice County cancer patients and families through financial grants,” Selly said. “We provide about three to five grants per month currently. That has increased significantly this year, the number of applicants is rising monthly.”
Light of Hope’s Friday event was the first major fundraiser held by the group this year. At several tables set up along the walls inside Corks & Pints, sales representatives and other personnel from a number of alcohol companies offered a taste of their products.
The second will be the Light of Hope Celebration in Faribault Central Park on Sept. 14. That event raised about $35,000 last year. A third fundraiser called the Crush Cancer Shopping Event will happen again this November as well.
Selly said the funds raised at the local Relay For Life was decreasing year over year, but she said that trend isn’t continuing for the new Light of Hope.
“The word is getting out,” she said. “We’re gaining support for the foundation now that the money remains local and it’s benefitting local patients.”
She said it took time, but people are beginning to understand the value of their work.
“When you’re starting a new foundation, it’s always hard,” she said. “You have to get word out, people have to start recognizing the work that’s being done and seeing the benefit of it. And we’re really starting to see the support of the community as they know that the money is helping patients and families.”
The amount raised in 2023 either matched or surpassed the amounts raised in the three years prior.
“It has been completely overwhelming to myself and the board to have that level of support that we have had from the community,” she said. “We have had a record number of sponsors for their foundation starting this year off as well.”
Selly is an oncology nurse who works with cancer patients every day.
“It’s been very personally rewarding to know that you’re making that impact and that the community is supporting that impact,” she said. “Especially when I do this for a daily job and I see what the financial toxicity of a cancer diagnosis does to patients and families.”
Visit LightOfHopeMN.org to learn more about the Light of Hope Cancer Foundation.
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