MOSES LAKE — The Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation will sponsor its biggest fundraiser of the year Saturday with the ninth annual “Country Sweethearts” dinner, dance and auction.

Just don’t try to buy a ticket. “We are sold out,” said foundation director Angel Kneedler.

“This is our biggest fundraiser,” Kneedler added. The dance and auction raised more than $100,000 in 2017, she said.

Money raised through the dinner and other fundraisers helps pay for the foundation’s services to cancer patients. “We help those with a cancer diagnosis,” Kneedler said. “From diagnosis through treatment in Grant and Adams counties.”

A cancer diagnosis can mean increased expenses at the same time the patient might be coping with reduced income. And cancer treatment usually means a trip out of town. “People sometimes have to travel far to get the help they need,” Kneedler said, and even a trip that’s pretty short when a person is healthy can get really long when they’re sick.

The foundation can help people with gas cards, and is a supporter of the People for People bus that makes regularly-scheduled trips to Wenatchee for medical treatment. The bus schedule is expanding, Kneedler said. “It’s only gotten better.” Cancer patients can also get prepaid cards for food.

Foundation officials work with the CB Tech culinary program to provide “Meals to Heal,” sponsored by Genie. The culinary students prepare meals that fit the dietary needs of cancer patients, and they are available every other week while the patient is in treatment.

The cancer foundation sponsors support groups for patients, and provides hats and head coverings for patients who have lost their hair during treatment. Foundation officials work with local 4-H clubs on a spring cleaning project. The 4-H members spend time cleaning up the yard for cancer patients, jobs like raking up winter debris.

Volunteers make blankets to help patients combat the cold that can come with cancer treatment. And the foundation provides a library for patients, covering subjects like nutrition for patients undergoing treatment.

Grant and Adams county residents and businesses have responded to the foundation and its activities. “There’s much love in this community,” Kneedler said.

Even people who didn’t manage to snag a ticket to the banquet can donate to the foundation. The foundation website, www.columbiabasincancerfoundation.org, has a donation button on each page, Kneedler said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.