Gunnison tough

“Make It a Great Day”

By Dawne Belloise

When the national organization Tough Enough to Wear Pink (TETWP) came to our valley, our local chapter was given permission to use the name and under its umbrella, raise money for local breast cancer awareness, support and treatment for its patients and families as well as purchase new equipment for the Gunnison Valley Hospital (GVH). Now, the local chapter has gone even more local, creating the non-profit Gunnison Tough, basically legally formalizing what this essential organization was already doing for all those affected by breast cancer in the valley. They have the backing of TETWP and Wrangler (jeans and such) as sponsors and are 100% local with all the funds raised staying in the Gunnison Valley. But the big news is that Gunnison Tough has expanded beyond breast cancer to now offer support to all cancer patients and their families.

Executive director Heidi Sherratt says that the inclusivity began when it was realized, “we had the capacity to help more people with different cancers. So we opened the transportation programs before we opened the entire program to them since transportation and lodging are not covered by insurance.” Norman and Dorothy Eastwood funded the lodging program, called Lucy’s House, named for Dorothy’s mom who died of ovarian cancer. It was the Eastwoods who wanted to open their lodging program to all cancer patients, which started the evolution to open all programs to all cancer patients.

Gunnison Tough’s transportation program aims at helping cancer patients get to their treatments, appointments and anything needed in relationship to their diagnosis. “We bought vehicles that people can check out to use to drive to appointments and other places. People were hitchhiking to their appointments and treatments in Montrose in the winter. Some were taking the bus. We now have six vehicles. If people need drivers, we have volunteers who will do the driving if needed.”

Gunnison Tough’s “Make It a Great Day” program was started in honor of Edie Gibson who has always said that phrase. It’s an integrated program that includes various therapies, like massage, reiki, ortho-bionomy, mental health and is basically designed to help people as they’re going through a cancer diagnosis. It includes cancer patients’ caregivers, who can also utilize the program.

“Friends of Tough” is a program for individual financial assistance for medical bills, mortgages, car payments, rent, any financial needs for a patient and their family. Sherratt states, “We have a $5,000 cap per year per family and it’s also open to all cancer patients. We were in a financial position to do these things but now we have to raise more funds to be all inclusive as our programs are being utilized so much more. We’re helping 20 to 30 people at a time in some capacity throughout the year so it’s a significant amount of people utilizing our programs.”

Gunnison Tough helps to pay for cancer screenings, as well. “If you don’t have insurance or it’s not covered, we pay for any mammogram, ultrasound, MRI and biopsies,” Sherratt says. The organization has purchased over a $1M of equipment for GVH in order to ensure that people were getting the best possible screenings without having to travel to Denver. “The goal has always been to not have people traveling to Denver because we feel that people are more likely to get screenings if they don’t have to travel so far, and early screenings save lives.” Gunnison Tough purchased the top-of-the-line 3D Tomo, a high-level 3D mammogram machine for GVH. Wrangler also donates money every year with the rest of the funds covered by local fundraising efforts.

There’s also “Sparky’s Fund” named after a local Gunnison woman who was an amazing basketball athlete. This program specifically helps kids whose families are going through cancer. “We’ve sent kids to summer camp, paid for childcare, given money for college and Christmas presents. Families can ask us for whatever is needed to help them going through hard times, or losing a parent, or whatever is happening,” Sherratt says.

Thursday, July 17 is the big fundraiser for Gunnison Tough, with the 20th year celebration of TETWP to the Gunnison Valley. “It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year so it’s important that it’s successful,” Sherratt explains. Dean Dillon is one of the main artists who will be performing. Dillon, a Gunnison local, is a Country Music Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee. He has charted several singles on the Billboard country music charts and continues to write hit songs for other artists, most notably George Strait. Dillon is also on the board of Gunnison Tough and according to Sherratt, “He’s the vision behind the organization and has been involved since the beginning. With all his success, he says that this (Gunnison Tough) is what he’s most proud of.” Dillon started the fundraisers of the singer/songwriter auction and fundraiser and concert. 

August 16 is another exciting event for Gunnison Tough as the organization throws down with Bullfest. Sherratt explains, “We want to celebrate our amazing community because it’s the only reason we are as successful as we are. It’s not just about the fundraisers, it’s about the volunteers and there’s a lot of people in the community who are involved,” she says of the celebration. With their roots firmly planted in the valley’s western heritage, Gunnison Tough wanted to honor and celebrate that as a way to bring the community together. 

Bullfest is a pro riders event, featuring riders and those expert rodeo clowns who protect them. “It’s the guys on the ground keeping the bull away from the rider who’s fallen off the bull. There are eight teams, two riders and one rodeo clown, competing against each other, and it’s animal friendly.” The event will kick off with line dancing, swing dancing lessons, ranch rodeo games for kids and the Ranch Kids Olympics and then the bull riding event. There’ll be a horseback drill team performance, after which a hoedown takes place at the fairgrounds with the John King Band from Georgia. Tickets are on sale online on their website with all monies going to Gunnison Tough. “It’s a brand new event to celebrate our 20 years in the valley and thank our community for their support.” 

“We’ve raised $1M each year for the past two years and that gives us the possibility of opening up to all cancers because of our successful fundraising efforts,” notes Sherratt, adding that there aren’t other communities doing this. “What we do is very unique. Our goal is to be fully endowed, meaning that we have enough invested so it generates enough so we can continue the program forever. We started the Dean Dillon endowment to start saving for the future of the organization to ensure its strength for the long haul. Our goal has always been to make this organization fiscally responsible to last for generations.” 

For more information, help, and to donate or become a sponsor, visit gunnisontough.com.