LAURINBURG — Scotland Cancer Treatment Center and a pair of Jersey Mike’s Subs franchises are joining forces this month to make the fight against cancer a little less daunting for those going through treatment.
The Jersey Mike’s restaurants in Laurinburg and Pembroke will donate 100 percent of sales on March 30 to the center as part of the chain’s nationwide Day of Giving. In the three years since franchise owner Ron Gibson selected Scotland Cancer Treatment Center as the local beneficiary of the fundraising effort, it has raised more than $47,000.
In 2015 alone, the Day of Giving raised $26,802 as customers lined the store’s walls waiting for their turn to support the center — all for the price of their favorite sandwich. This year, Jersey Mike’s and Scotland Memorial Foundation, the Scotland Health Care System’s fundraising arm, hope to raise $20,000.
According to Dotti Matthews, director of the Scotland Cancer Treatment Center, funds raised through the Jersey Mike’s effort will be directed to the center’s patient assistance fund, which is used to provide patients in need with items that contribute to their well-being while undergoing chemotherapy or radiation.
That can range from gasoline vouchers for patients undergoing frequent radiation therapy — currently a bill of around $1,000 monthly — to medications that alleviate the side effects of treatment, to nutritional supplements.
Monies raised in the Day of Giving have also gone to purchase equipment, including a head and neck examination chair and new wheelchairs for use only at the cancer center.
“Wheelchairs are very expensive, and I was able to purchase five for our department with the Jersey Mike’s funds last year,” said Matthews. “That’s something I wouldn’t have had in my budget to do and those get used by several patients every day. It’s something that seems like a little thing but it’s a big thing for them to pull up and for them to be a wheelchair here for them to use.”
The center treats some 400 patients annually. Its patient assistance fund grants fuel vouchers to about 50 patients, funds wig purchases for about 15, and provides nutritional supplements to 30 each year in addition to paying for general hospitality for all patients.
“People in Laurinburg are just amazing what they come out and do, and Ronnie and his team at Jersey Mike’s, the work that they put into it and the whole community getting behind it, it’s just really awesome,” said Matthews.
Jersey Mike’s will be open from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. on March 30 for Day of Giving. To keep wait times to a minimum, pre-orders will be taken before that day.
Gibson chose to support the cancer center in honor of his sister, a breast cancer survivor, and his parents.
“I lost my dad when he was 48 and my mom when she was 57 to cancer,” he said. We just want to support the local cancer center as much as we can to help the people who need prostheses, wigs, or anything we can do for them.”
The Day of Giving at Jersey Mike’s locations at 12280 McColl Road in Laurinburg and 409 West Third Street in Pembroke will benefit the Scotland Cancer Treatment Center. The Laurinburg location can be reached at 910-266-0013 and the Pembroke restaurant can be reached at 910-521-4055.
Mary Katherine Murphy can be reached at 910-506-3169.
