Founded in 2005 by Gary Bonackker to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the Tour Deschutes in Bend, Oregon is a cycling event that is on target this year to raise over $100,000 for St. Charles Hospital's "Defeat Cancer" survivorship program with support from organizations such as the Punch Worthington Lab.

According to Peggy Carey, Cancer Program Director for Cascade Healthcare Community, 10 million people in the U.S are living with cancer, with 8,500 in the Central and Eastern Oregon region alone. Survivorship programs support those affected by cancer, and the Tour Deschutes has funded a coordinator for the St. Charles program that puts area survivors in touch with similarly situated patients.

The Cancer Survivorship Program provides Central and Eastern Oregonians with a history of cancer the opportunity to access supportive, life-affirming programs. A generous donation from the Tour Deschutes organization helped establish the Survivorship Program in 2007, matching newly diagnosed patients of any cancer and their caregivers with trained volunteers who have survived similar experiences.

Survivors counsel other patients and help them navigate the medical world. These "navigators" and their friends include hundreds of cyclists, all volunteers, who are raising money and awareness in Bend. They have developed a huge database of cancer patients, which means that matches can be made easier and more quickly. Patients with the same disease, same stage, and who live in the same area can network to overcome the significant hurdles in cancer treatment, care, and coping.

St. Charles, through the grant funded by Tour Deschutes, has trained 34 sponsors as volunteers for the network. Our law firm's support for this event emphasizes our commitment to help people get support through networks and survivorship. The expansion of navigators for each tumor is the goal: giving help and hope to others. With research and better treatment, we hope that victims of lung related cancers will one day have the same chance of survivorship as those with breast, prostate, and other cancers.