By Joshua Grove
Beacon Correspondent
Stake the Lake, the Eric R. Beverly Family Foundation’s annual cancer awareness and remembrance walk, returns to Munising on Saturday, Sept. 27. The event honors those affected by cancer while raising money for Alger County residents facing the costs of treatment.
The walk was conceived in 2017 as a way to raise capital for the foundation’s Chemotherapy and Mammography Program fund, or CHAMP, a program dedicated to helping Alger County residents with the cost of treatment, transportation and lodging to ease the financial burden as they battle cancer.
Originally focused on breast cancer, CHAMP has since expanded to support patients battling all forms of the disease.
Danielle Beverly, the foundation’s co-founder and a four-time breast cancer survivor, said easing financial strain through programs such as CHAMP can make a tangible difference in patient outcomes.
“The reality is that research shows that an individual’s financial situation impacts their outcome with a battle against cancer,” she said. “So if you’re worried about trying to work, pay the bills, put food on your table, keep a roof over your head, your thought and your focus on that diagnosis is probably in the back, because you want to come home and still be able to put food on the table, still show up at work, still pay your bills. So our big thing is trying to be that stopgap, that assistance, that support.”
In addition to treatment and transportation, Beverly said the foundation has also helped with mortgages, rent and utilities.
“One year, we had an individual that was having a surgery related to his diagnosis, and they really suggested a hospital bed would be the best for the recovery,” she said. “So we helped secure that for that individual. You know, we tell people, you save money for your bills, but you’re really not saving for a cancer diagnosis.”
The foundation has provided $20,202.15 in CHAMP assistance just this year.
In addition to CHAMP, the foundation runs the Fueling Hope program, which provides gas cards to cover initial transportation costs and introduce patients to other services; the Angel Closet, which offers free hats, scarves and wigs to those experiencing chemotherapy-related hair loss; and a scholarship fund that awards two $500 grants each year to local high school students, with preference given to student-athletes pursuing a bachelor’s degree in a medical field.
Money for the foundation’s programs was originally raised through annual luncheons and “Cocktails for a Cause” fundraisers. Stake the Lake emerged in 2017 as a replacement that not only supports the mission but also does so in a way that encourages reflection and active participation from the entire community.
“When we were trying to tell people about it, we were like, this way men and women can get involved, and people can walk in honor of loved ones and in memory of loved ones,” Beverly said. “Families would walk and push their stroller with their kids. And so it kind of became more of a community celebration and honoring those touched by cancer.”
Stake the Lake gets its name from the line of hand-painted garden stakes and crosses that runs along the walk’s route. Each marker bears the name of someone who has fought or been lost to cancer.
The foundation’s vice president, Sue Passinault, and her husband, David, personally craft every one of them. \
“As we’re cutting them, we’re going, ‘Oh my goodness,’ we’re cutting a cross for someone we knew,” she said. “It’s very emotional, because you know these people. They’re your friends.”
The hundreds of names lining M-28 speak to the quiet tragedy of lives interrupted, upended and cut short by cancer. But they are also a testament to the perseverance of those who fight, and to the community that hasn’t forgotten them.
The number of walkers has grown steadily since the first event in 2017, with more than 600 walkers participating in the last Stake the Lake.
Since last year, the event has been headquartered at the Munising Middle/High School gym, where registration, a silent auction, raffles and a brief ceremony are held before walkers set out along the path.
Registration for this year’s event will be in the gym starting at 9 a.m. The walk is planned for 10 a.m. following a group photo and a speech honoring walkers and volunteers.
To get involved, visit beverlyfamilyfoundation.org/events. To commission a stake or cross in honor of your loved one, call Sue Passinault at 906-202-0259 or Karen Maxon at 906-202-0001.