Local woman starts foundation to help cancer victims

“You’ll Never Walk Alone” is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Carousel” and the longtime sporting anthem for Liverpool Football Club fans.

It’s also the name for a new foundation started by a local breast cancer survivor who wants to help women and their families cope with the disease.

Stacy Morgan, a teacher at L.B. Williams Elementary in Mitchell, wrapped up her last round of chemotherapy in April after discovering she had breast cancer 14 months earlier. Last month, she had a mastectomy and began the reconstruction process.

Morgan, 40, said that throughout her treatment, it wasn’t unusual to see women attending their doctor’s appointments alone, without a family member or support person.

“They have so many questions — I just don’t want anybody to have to go through this by themselves,” Morgan said.

That’s how the idea was born for “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” which Morgan is co-founding with her siblings, Julie Haiar and Brad Martin of Mitchell, and Dave Martin of Sioux Falls.

“Our hope is to use the money we raise to educate women about breast cancer, especially support those once they’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer with expenses their insurance won’t cover — maybe day care, giving rides to and from chemotherapy, help with wigs, hats, anything we can help them with,” Morgan said.

Through the foundation, she hopes to share some of the tips that helped her get through cancer and treatments. Another goal is to open a care store in Mitchell with items like hats, scarves and wigs.

Morgan also wants to help spread the word about Bracha gene testing and raise funds to help patients afford it. Since she tested positive for the gene, which is responsible for multiple types of cancer, she knows to watch for it in her children: Cole, 14, Connor, 11, and Peyton, 8. The test also helped Morgan make the decision to schedule a hysterectomy this fall to avoid the chance of developing ovarian cancer down the road.

“It was important for us to keep life as normal as possible for the kids during this. We want to make sure we can help other women do that,” Morgan said. “Not everyone is as fortunate to have the support right here in town that they need.”

Morgan’s own parents are playing a role in You’ll Never Walk Alone, as well as its name. Olive and Reginald Martin emigrated from Liverpool, England, in the 1960s, and Morgan’s familiarity with “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as Liverpool’s famous football fight song was a factor in naming the foundation.

A kickoff event is planned for 5 p.m. June 26 at the Highland Conference Center in Mitchell. Activities will include a silent auction and raffle and guest appearances by the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Mike Miller and the Minnesota Vikings’ Chad Greenway. The auction will include sports memorabilia, weekend getaways and gift baskets. T-shirts and tote bags with the “You’ll Never Walk Alone” logo will be on sale, too.

“It’s kind of just to introduce the foundation to Mitchell and hopefully get some start-up money so we can get it going,” Morgan said.

Morgan’s 14-year-old nephew had the idea for the logo: two female figures, depicted as pink breast cancer awareness ribbons, holding hands.

A Web site, www.ynwalone.com, is currently under construction.

Anyone interested in volunteering or donating to the kickoff event on June 26 may call Morgan at 996-4621 or 999-8798.

“We just want to help make their journey as stress-free as possible,” Morgan said.

Tags: stacy morgan, news, cancer