The Ruby Slipper Fund’s annual fundraiser focused on shoes, purses, jewelry and fun has raised over $100,000 to help locals battling cancer since 2009, in the name of beloved friend Patsy Rothenbush.
“I wish Patsy would have been able to come to just one. It’s got her written all over it,” said Brenda Rowe, one of the event organizers. “She would have loved it and she would have talked us into adding jackets, too, because she was such a jacket junkie.”
Rowe, Sandie Lanskail and Carolyn Spence were good friends with Rothenbush, and when she succumbed to cancer in 2009 they wanted to do something to honour her memory.
Before she died, Rothenbush told the friends how fortunate she felt to be able to fight cancer in her own home and she suggested a fund to help others do the same. The friends were all for the idea and Rothenbush even came up with a name for the endeavour, the “Ruby Slipper Fund” because when Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz sported those red ruby slippers she just had to say “there’s no place like home,” to get there.
It’s not that easy for locals dealing with cancer treatments, which can pull them off Coast, but the Ruby Slipper Fund makes things more bearable.
Those suffering with cancer need only fill out a form on the website at www.rubyslipperfund.com and a team will decide how to distribute the needed funds.
In the past the Ruby Slipper Fund has paid for things like counselling, cancer medication, food, hydro, rent and gas for those afflicted with cancer. The fund has also purchased some equipment to be loaned out as needed, like a special wheelchair and a bed that alleviates bed sores.
“Basically whatever people need to make things easier, that’s what we help with,” Lanskail said.
In addition to the grants given by the fund there is also a Ruby Slipper support group, which was set up in 2013 to help connect and encourage those who are battling cancer on the Coast.
“There was a big need for that locally,” Lanskail noted.
The Ruby Slipper Fund has also set up a closed Facebook page where those dealing with cancer can talk and share freely and a support group for caregivers. All three supports can be accessed through the fund’s website.
The next Ruby Slipper Fund event is scheduled for April 11 at 6 p.m. at Chatelech Secondary, but those who haven’t purchased tickets yet are out of luck as the event has been sold out for some time.
This year’s 325 guests can expect to find 300 pieces of jewelry to bid on as well as 225 pairs of shoes and 120 purses. Nancy Palmer of Lucy’s and Palmeros was a huge supporter again this year, donating over $7,000 worth of new items, and the Sunshine Coast Credit Union (SCCU) gave $2,500 to the event, basically underwriting the entire thing for organizers.
The SCCU will also draw for an RRSP at the event and donate some funds back to the cause in the name of the winner.
Last year’s Ruby Slipper event netted over $22,000 and organizers expect that number to rise again this year with the selling of additional tickets, a new venue and some added special draws and surprises planned throughout the night.
“The event is going to be awesome and everyone’s going to have a great time,” Lanskail said, “but I’m more proud about what we’re able to do with the money that’s raised — it makes such a difference in people’s lives.”
