A program to benefit the Childhood Cancer Research Fund...

Fishing opportunities given to Pediatric Cancer Patients.

April 27, 2009 Section: News - Daily Mountain Eagle (Jasper, AL):

TOWNLEY — Children's Hospital cancer patients got a chance to throw out a line at the second
annual Fishin' 4 A Cure Day at the Lake event at Bear Branch Lodge in Townley on Saturday. Children ranging in age from two-years-old to 20 were out at the large compound to fish and watch the Lodge's retrievers take to the water.

Fishin' 4 A Cure Chairman Bruce Sargent said the event started as a way to help raise money for an almost overlooked group of children. He said the Children's Hospital Pediatric Cancer was one he felt the group needed to raise money for.

"It was started two-and-a-half-years ago primarily as the fundraising activity for the Alabama Bass Federation Nation," Sargent said. "We started looking for a charity to sponsor and that is when we were shown Children's Hospital. That is when we decided on Pediatric Cancer, primarily because we felt that is where there was the most need. That aren't a lot of organizations out there raising money for Pediatric Cancer."

Sargent said Fishin' 4 A Cure raised a little more than $50,000 its inaugural year. He said events such as the Day at the Lake help those children affected by cancer an opportunity to have fun outside the hospital walls.

"Events like this really make a difference. A lot of the children here today have never fished and we are glad to provide that experience for them," Sargent said. "We are very proud of what we do and very thankful to even have the opportunity to do this."

The event would not be possible without the help of sponsors. Sargent said he owes all the sponsors a big thank you for helping this event take place.

"I want to give a big thanks to Bear Branch Lodge, Scott Crump Toyota, Airport Marine, Academy Outdoors, Marks Outdoors for making this happen," Sargent said. "And we want thank Chik-Fil-A for donating the biscuits we all had this morning for breakfast."

Fund development Manager, Pediatric Cancer at Children's Hospital Emily Hornak said the event really helps the children shift their focus from treatment to having fun with family.

"This enable's our Pediatric Hematology and Oncology patients to come out and have activities with anglers and with Bear Branch Lodge staff they normally wouldn't have a chance to do," Hornak said. "They get a chance to fish, watch the retrievers do exercises in the water and most importantly they just get to have fun with their family."

At the event were children in treatment and some children who had beaten the disease. Hornak said it is important for both groups of children to come together and help each other out.

Bass Times: Fishing for a cure "fishin4cure"

One man's inspiration has turned into an active fishing charity for children
By John Neporadny, Jr. BASS Times Senior Writer

Every time James Bright visited the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital for medical treatment, the Federation Nation member saw the kids at the UAB Children's Hospital afflicted with cancer and wished he could do something for them. So when he was struggling in a tournament one day, he started thinking about those kids. Then, he saw some fish on his graph. Bright started catching fish that helped him finish in the money that day, and he decided to donate his winnings to Children's Hospital.

Over the years, Bright kept donating his tournament winnings to Children's Hospital and eventually found three other Alabama B.A.S.S. Federation Nation members — Eddie Plemons (Alabama's president), Bruce Sargent and Clay Morris — to join the cause.

"I knew Eddie and the Federation Nation would be glad to help us with it," recalled Bright.

The foursome started fishin4acure (F4AC) and appointed Sargent, a fellow Birmingham Bass Club member, as the charity's board president.

Pediatric cancer patients are invited to go fishing at a private facility, thanks to fishin4acure.

"I knew he would grab hold of this idea and take it somewhere," said Bright.

"All the money we raise goes straight to Children's Hospital," added Plemons.

Some of the fishin4acure programs include a Hooked on Smiles Program, in which a network of volunteer fishermen take pediatric cancer patients and their family members on guided fishing trips; a Day at the Lake, which provides pediatric cancer patients and their families a chance to enjoy a day at a private facility that has stocked fishing lakes; and the Airport Marine Sponsors Bonus program that makes every Federation Nation angler a member of the F4AC team and eligible for tournament bonuses if they donate $100 to the charity.

Other fishin4acure projects in the works include an annual charity tournament and a fundraising competition among Alabama B.A.S.S. Federation Nation clubs with a goal of raising $120,000 annually.

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