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All across southern Oklahoma, athletes are getting in shape for the A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy on March 28. Veteran runners are adding the marathon/half marathon/5K to their already ambitious slate of activities while amateurs and even couch potatoes are dusting off their running shoes and getting their bodies moving in anticipation of this massive fundraiser to benefit the Mercy Cancer Center.
Just as many, if not more people, are gearing up behind the scenes as volunteers, doing their part to help out in a variety of areas to help make the event a success.
Jasyn and Samantha Norton
The owners of Cafe Alley, this husband-and-wife team decided to use their cooking skills to help fuel the runners the night before the big race. The two will provide and oversee a pasta dinner for the runners on March 27 in the Ardmore Convention Center, allowing the participants to load up on their carbohydrates before the big race.
“We just saw this as a good way to give back to the community,” said Samantha, who serves as the spokesperson for the duo. “It’s such a good cause and a good way to help support a great event. The first thing is, we wanted to do a contribution, and they’ve got to have their carbs!
“(Cancer) pretty much affects every family,” she said. “This is one way we could help support this event to raise money for the cancer center. There are so many local people that are training and what a neat thing for the community to get active and get moving for a great cause.”
Candy Davidson
Samantha’s mother, Candy Davidson, is joining the pasta dinner team and is responsible for the planning, decorating and serving. Davidson lost both her parents to cancer and said the A2A was her chance to get involved and help other families.
“My sister’s had breast cancer and I’m just looking forward to having the center here and be involved,” she said. “I just think the A2A is a great way, just to see everyone in the community come together and work on an event like this. Jasyn and Samantha are providing the dinner through their restaurant and I’m just going to be one of the servers.”
Joan Lankford
As the manager of radiation therapy at Mercy Memorial Health Center, Joan Lankford has seen first-hand time and time again how cancer affects people and their families. Having a cancer center at home will be a blessing to everyone, and she’s been busy in the planning of the facility.
All across southern Oklahoma, athletes are getting in shape for the A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy on March 28. Veteran runners are adding the marathon/half marathon/5K to their already ambitious slate of activities while amateurs and even couch potatoes are dusting off their running shoes and getting their bodies moving in anticipation of this massive fundraiser to benefit the Mercy Cancer Center.
Just as many, if not more people, are gearing up behind the scenes as volunteers, doing their part to help out in a variety of areas to help make the event a success.
Jasyn and Samantha Norton
The owners of Cafe Alley, this husband-and-wife team decided to use their cooking skills to help fuel the runners the night before the big race. The two will provide and oversee a pasta dinner for the runners on March 27 in the Ardmore Convention Center, allowing the participants to load up on their carbohydrates before the big race.
“We just saw this as a good way to give back to the community,” said Samantha, who serves as the spokesperson for the duo. “It’s such a good cause and a good way to help support a great event. The first thing is, we wanted to do a contribution, and they’ve got to have their carbs!
“(Cancer) pretty much affects every family,” she said. “This is one way we could help support this event to raise money for the cancer center. There are so many local people that are training and what a neat thing for the community to get active and get moving for a great cause.”
Candy Davidson
Samantha’s mother, Candy Davidson, is joining the pasta dinner team and is responsible for the planning, decorating and serving. Davidson lost both her parents to cancer and said the A2A was her chance to get involved and help other families.
“My sister’s had breast cancer and I’m just looking forward to having the center here and be involved,” she said. “I just think the A2A is a great way, just to see everyone in the community come together and work on an event like this. Jasyn and Samantha are providing the dinner through their restaurant and I’m just going to be one of the servers.”
Joan Lankford
As the manager of radiation therapy at Mercy Memorial Health Center, Joan Lankford has seen first-hand time and time again how cancer affects people and their families. Having a cancer center at home will be a blessing to everyone, and she’s been busy in the planning of the facility.
“We’re actually in the stages of trying to finalize the plans right now and we’re looking at interior finishes — carpet, paint and things like that,” she said. “Rees Architects out of Oklahoma City is who we’re using. They’ve been really, really good to work with. We’ve been out on a couple of site visits and been out there to see what other cancer centers look like. We’ve had meetings with some of the corporate people of St. Louis and everybody that has anything to do with it. About every two weeks we’ll have a meeting about it.”
Lankford said she plans to be involved in the A2A in a variety of ways, from open to close all day March 27 and 28 and, if she gets in shape, she and her daughter plan to run the race, as well.
“I wanted to be involved in the race because I feel that we should be. Allison (Smalley) came up with the marathon had people helping her right off the bat, but in my eyes, they’re doing this for us. I know they’re doing this for the community and the patients. I’ve been here 17 years and ... I just think that we as co-workers, myself especially, we should be there to contribute and give back to them.”
Shana Hammond
Another Mercy employee, Shana Hammond, has joined the volunteer bandwagon and is in charge of the publicity committee for the A2A. Hammond said the post is just a natural extension of her job as marketing and communications supervisor for the hospital. She’s working closely with Smalley, The Ardmoreite and other local media to help spread the word and get some of the race’s “great human interest stories” to the public.
“We’ve enjoyed getting people in front of the community that most people can identify with,” Hammond said. “Most people off the street can’t identify with marathon runners. But there are so many others who have said that this event was just the push to get them up and going.”
As far as becoming a volunteer herself, “what better way that to help my employer and community?”
