October 05, 2005
Wednesday

Ketchikan, Alaska - Fighting cancer is enough of a battle for most people; they don't also need to worry about the bills piling up and how their families will manage while the patient fights for life. However, sometimes the bills do pile up and go unpaid, or are paid late, in a disorganized plan of crisis management. It is stressful and doesn't help the patient maintain the positive attitude that helps win the battle against the disease and it is unnecessary if you are fortunate enough to live in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Ketchikan is a place where community caring is put into action, especially for cancer victims and their loved ones. Through the generosity of local residents, First City Council on Cancer has raised and given away approximately $1 million over the last 10 years. They do this through their annual fundraiser, a hugely successful auction, but they also sometimes receive unsolicited donations of money.

This is where Ketchikan Yacht Club enters the picture. In August of every year, the club sponsors a sailboat race regatta which has, over the years, raised thousands of dollars in fundraising money from the sailors who participate in the regatta. For almost 25 years, the yacht club has donated half of their annual regatta proceeds to a local charity.

This year, it went to First City Council on Cancer, in remembrance of Jon Kumin, of Anchorage, who died in August of 2005 of lung cancer at the age of 56. Kumin, an avid sailboat racer and sportsman, was well-known locally as the architect who designed Pt. Higgins elementary school and the new Fawn Mountain school now under construction south of town. He had, before being diagnosed with lung cancer, been scheduled to attend the Ketchikan Yacht Club regatta this year, titled KORC XXV, as the "visiting expert skipper", a fun job that required that he sail and give pointers on board each race boat during the 11 races held over 4 days of racing in Tongass Narrows. This was the 25th anniversary of KORC, and would be a very special event, one that Kumin was looking forward to. He died the week before the start of the regatta.

On Tuesday evening of October 4, 2005, John Clifton and Jean Kemmerer, representing First City Council on Cancer, accepted a check, in Kumin's memory, for $1,020 from Lou Bartos, chair of the Ketchikan Yacht Club race committee, on behalf of the entire yacht club membership.

First City Council on Cancer will sponsor its annual auction again this year to once more raise money and give it to patients and their families, without regard to need. Likewise, Ketchikan Yacht Club is already talking about next summer's regatta and the fundraising that will enable the group to donate to local charitable causes in the Ketchikan area.

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Ketchikan, Alaska