Fore Her provides community support to people battling breast cancer

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – Link was pink Friday morning at the 12th annual Link event. Before your golf trip.

Start of the game in Links Golf Club in San DestinThe non-profit organization is hosting the event to provide financial support to patients currently battling breast cancer.

What started as a family picnic to honor a loved one has grown into a full-fledged annual event.

in front of her founder Amy Walsh said, “My family started raising funds through a golf fundraiser in Michigan and after a few years I decided I wanted to go to the area to honor my mom and aunt who passed away from breast cancer. I started this 11 years ago and haven’t looked back and it has only grown. We play golf, drink tea, train for the 5K.”

All money raised through the organization stays put. Some volunteers, like Ginny Richerson, are survivors and understand the needs of breast cancer survivors.

As a patient liaison, Richerson said, “They cry, I cry, usually within 45 minutes to an hour I know what they need. The financial needs were rent, house payment, and then I put together an offer. It depends on the amount of their bills, but giving back to the community is a good feeling. This is what I want to do.”

For women like Crystal Schabinger, who was just starting chemotherapy, Fore Her helped do more than just make ends meet.

“I went online and applied and within a day or two Ginny called me back. We talked on the phone for probably two hours. She made me feel so good about what was going to happen in my journey because she had been through it too. She asked me to just send her my bills, so I emailed her all my bills and they paid each of my bills for three months. It was great because I’m a single mother. It was just before Christmas, and on top of that there were medical bills. This organization really helped me last year and I’m here today to give back,” Schabinger said.

Paying it forward and supporting other women who know the struggles of battling cancer all too well, Walsh went on to explain Fore Her’s mission. “People aren’t always surrounded by family, so we try to be that family to help lift their spirits and support them. We’ve gone from just helping people in Okaloosa and Walton counties to helping people from Bay County to Escambia County.

Schabinger said, “It was just helpful to find other people, my people, who were going through the same thing as me. That alone has been a blessing to this organization.”

For more information on future events and how to make arrangements, visit www.forher.org.