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The fifth annual celebrity-amateur “Showcase” golf tournament held in Coeur d’Alene this past weekend, featured some of the most celebrated athletes of our time, including NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, two-time Super Bowl champion Jim McMahon, 11-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion Roger Clemens, Super Bowl MVP Marcus Allen, and MLB star Fred McGriff (for a complete list of celebrity attendees, visit showcasegolf.com/celebrities). The weekend was capped off with private concerts featuring Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Grammy nominated artist Aloe Blacc and 2018 Grammy winner, Little Big Town.

“We’ve all been impacted by cancer in some way,” explained Community Cancer Fund executive director and co-founder Jerid Keefer. “It was so powerful to see everyone in attendance this weekend – from guests to sponsors and celebrities – come together to help the local fight against cancer.”

One hundred percent of the money raised at The Showcase will be invested in the Inland Northwest through the Community Cancer Fund to support cancer patients and the organizations that serve them. In its first four years, the Community Cancer Fund has raised over $10 million – established a $3 million endowment fund for Camp Goodtimes, a free summer camp for children affected by cancer; provided over 3,800 nights of complimentary lodging options for cancer patients and their families undergoing cancer treatment in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene; donated $240,000 to help cancer patients pay for transportation, medication, and other critical needs such as rent or heating; invested $65,000 in local cancer research studies; and most recently, dedicated $5.85 million to the construction of the Hospitality Center – a new 20-unit lodging facility on the Kootenai Health campus in Coeur d’Alene to provide temporary housing for both adult and pediatric patients seeking treatments and care.

Working with community partners, the Community Cancer Fund will direct funds from this years’ Showcase to significantly impact lodging options and opportunities for cancer patients and their families traveling to the Inland Northwest for cancer treatments and care under the Cancer Patient Lodging 2020 Initiative. “One third of all patients seen at Kootenai Health are from outside Kootenai County,” said Jon Ness, CEO of Kootenai Health. In 2017, more than 30% of cancer patients at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Centers and Holy Family hospitals traveled between 50-200 miles to receive care. Dozens of people traveled more than 200 miles. Patients come from Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon.

By 2020, the Community Cancer Fund plans to build and open the Hospitality Center at Kootenai Health, aid the Ronald McDonald House with aggressive expansion plans in Spokane, opening their new House by January 1, 2020, and has committed to a minimum of 2000+ nights of complimentary lodging for patients and families seeking cancer treatments and care in Spokane.