SUMTER, S.C. — Providing support and encouragement to women battling breast cancer is the motivation for one Sumter woman.
Tamekia Hunter Ross is using her own experience fighting stage four breast cancer to help others.
“With being diagnosed with cancer…that's a harsh thing to assess,” Tammey Davis remembers about the call she got in 2018, letting her know she had late stage breast cancer. “And at that time being a single mom, you just give up and I was at that stage. I didn't know which way to go. Fighting the journey, fighting the hurt, fighting the pain and everything that come along with the treatment, I — at the age of 38 — saying ‘Hey, I can't do this. This is not for me.”
Davis connected with Sumter resident Tamekia Hunter Ross, who was fighting her own stage four diagnosis.
“Faith Strong was birthed in December 2018 after I was diagnosed the second time with breast cancer. The second time I was diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer,” Ross remembers. “At that time, I was looking for something…a support group and I wasn't able to find what I was looking for. So I heard very clearly the Holy Spirit say, ‘You start. You be the change.”
Ross founded Faith Strong, a nonprofit that provides encouragement to other women fighting breast cancer.
“You come to the group and you're able to be yourself,” Davis says about the monthly meeting that aims to provide relation, emotional and spiritual support. “You don't have to be that strong individual that you have to portray to your family that don't understand what you got going on.”
One of the ways they do that is by packing faith bags, filled with snacks and puzzles, to bring to local oncology centers every month for women to have when they’re getting chemotherapy.
“In general, we just want to make sure patients have what they need while they're going through treatments,” Ross explains. “Some may not be able to financially afford to have snacks. Some people have to go straight to work when they leave treatment and we want to be able to give them something, some encouragement to let them know that somebody is thinking about them. Somebody's loving them.”
“Just encouragement. That’s the big key,” registered nurse Chris Blakley shares. “It says a lot about the Sumter community that people care. They're not here just to be here. They’re here to show their love.”
Blakely works as office manager at a local oncology center, and says patients look forward to the bags during their treatments, which can last anywhere from three to eight hours.
“They’re excited, they're thankful. Satisfies a little bit of thirst and a little bit of hunger because they can't eat a whole lot,” Blakley explains. “They're very thankful when they get these and they're happy and ask for them frequently.”
“Those bags mean the world to someone who's just sitting there feeling empty, like I'm on this journey by myself,” Davis adds. “So those bags come into play to let them know you're not alone.”
Ross says each month, her and other Faith Strong members stop by three local oncology centers in Sumter to pass out anywhere from 75 to 125 bags.
“We have inspirational materials in there to kind of encourage their faith to help them activate their faith while they're going through their cancer journey,” Ross shares about the spiritual mission behind her nonprofit. “We partnered with Jason T. Mahoney, who is the owner of Crafted to Motivate. He's one of our partners.”
Mahoney and his team sponsor the bags and work with Ross to deliver them each month. The support extends beyond faith bags, though.
On Saturday, Davis and Ross are hosting a “Pink in the City” fundraiser to raise money for Faith Strong so it can continue providing bags and other services. The free event will have vendors, food and a runway.
“We want every lady that is surviving and thriving to be able to walk the runway and let us cheer them on and celebrate them in their breast cancer journey,” Ross shares.
That event is happening at the Sumter County Civic Center from 1 - 5 p.m. tomorrow. It is free entry, but Ross will be taking donations for her nonprofit. Her goal is to raise $23,023.