Barb Drumheller lives in the Country Club Village neighborhood on Kent’s East Hill where people know each other’s names and help each other.
Many have been neighbors since they bought new houses in the area in the 1990s. So after Drumheller lost her husband Ed Drumheller to cancer in 2006, the neighborhood decided to join for the first time in the Relay for Life of Kent, the annual June event that raises money for the American Cancer Society.
“It’s a unique neighborhood where we do a lot of things together,” Drumheller said as she sat on a couch at the home of Mark and Cheryl Jones during a recent Relay for Life planning meeting. “When my husband passed away from melanoma, several of my friends wanted to do something in his honor.”
They discovered how cancer impacted many of their lives.
“My husband’s dad passed from cancer and everyone had a common link because they were touched by it,” said Cheryl Jones who helped start a Relay for Life team. “We decided it would be a great opportunity as a neighborhood to make a difference.”
Known by their Relay for Life team name of the Country Club Village People, they have made a difference.
The team raised about $5,000 the first year, mainly from garage sales.
Country Club Village People raised $20,000 last year, the most of any of the 96 teams in the 12th annual event at French Field that raised more than $222,000. The Prudential’s Aggressive Cancer Kickers raised the second-highest amount at $13,000 while The Exotic Solution raised $12,000.
About 30 neighbors are part of the regular group that leads the fundraising. The Country Club Village neighborhood sits north of Southeast 256th Street and east of 132nd Avenue Southeast.
Their primary fundraising events are a five-course Italian dinner, wine tasting and auction at the Grape Adventure in Kent; A Texas Hold’em poker tournament and auction at the Auburn Elks; a neighborhood garage sale April 30 and May 1; A whiskey and bourbon tasting, ribeye dinner and auction May 21; a Mini Relay for Life at Meridian Elementary School May 27; and the first Ed Drumheller Memorial Trap and Skeet Shoot July 30 in Ravensdale.
“The inspiration for the skeet shoot was Barb’s husband,” said Gary Peel, organizer of the shoot. “He had a shotgun that I bought from Barb. He was an avid shooter and this is to honor him in his name.”
Neighbors contact numerous local businesses from golf courses to restaurants to donate items for the auctions that are a part of several events.
“The sponsors have grown with us,” Mark Jones said. “Every year they step up and give donations. That says a lot with the way the economy has been.”
This was close neighborhood even before the Relay for Life. They hold a block party each year with a live band as well as a Fourth of July parade on their streets of about 75 homes.
But the bond among neighbors grew even tighter with the work they do to raise funds through the Relay for Life.
“We’ve always been close, but we’re even closer because we’re working together and not just playing together,” Sean McFarlane said.
And they all share the fight against cancer. They hope to raise $20,000 again this year.
“We all do the relay as a group but it’s also very personal,” said Veronica Vossbeck as she sat next to Drumheller. “Barb’s husband we all knew and loved. My brother just got diagnosed this year with cancer.”
Drumheller nodded in agreement with Vossbeck.
“You don’t go through life and not know someone facing it,” Drumheller said.
Relay for Life of Kent
When: 6 p.m. June 3 to noon June 4
Where: French Field
What: Fundraising going on now
Benefits: American Cancer Society
Donate: www.rflkent.org
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