MOSES LAKE — The Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation will sponsor its biggest fundraiser of the year Feb. 4. Social hour begins at 5 p.m. for the 2017 “Country Sweetheart Ball” at the 4-H building at the Grant County Fairgrounds.

Social hour is followed by dinner, catered by Michael’s, with wine and beer selections from local wineries and breweries. There’s a silent auction throughout the evening and a live auction following dinner. There’s also a dance, with music by Dale Roth. The Sweetheart Ball always features boots and jeans and cowboy hats, which director Angel Kneedler has always characterized as “cowboy casual.”

Money raised through the dinner, dance and auctions helps pay for the services the foundation provides to cancer patients. The Sweetheart Ball raised about $90,000 in 2016, according to the foundation’s website. Since its inception in 2010, the dance has raised more than $380,000 for the foundation, the website said.

A cancer diagnosis can mean increased expenses at the same time patients might be coping with reduced income. Nor do patients always have a way to get to out-of-town treatments. So the cancer foundation helps support the People for People “health express shuttle” which takes people to treatment appointments in Wenatchee. The patient rides the bus for free; caregivers that ride along pay a small fee.

The foundation provides gas cards for patients or their families driving to appointments out of town. It provides wigs and hats, scarves and bandannas for patients who might hair.

Volunteers make blankets to combat the cold that can come with treatment, and the foundation sponsors a monthly support group for patients and caregivers. The group meets at 5:30 p.m. the third Monday of each month at the Moses Lake Senior Center.

Cancer treatment affects the whole body, including nutrition, and the foundation provides support for patients who must take nutritional supplements, and maintains an updated library with nutritional information. There’s also a library with “free (information) pamphlets from numerous creditable cancer organizations,” and books about cancer that patients can check out, according to the website.

Tickets are $65 per person and $500 for a table of eight. Tickets can be purchased at the foundation’s website, www.columbiabasincancerfoundation.org. Cancer foundation officials also are looking for corporate sponsors; applications are available on the website.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].