Darlington Police Department raising money for a cure
By Melissa Rollins, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
The Darlington Police Department is working to help find a cure for cancer. Through several different ventures, the department is working toward their goal of $2,000 for the Darlington County Relay for Life event happening May 5.
DPD Chief Danny Watson said that he and his department are doing what they can to make a dent in the money needed for treatments and for research to find a cure.
“The thing is, it is not about any one individual,” Watson said. “It is about a line and linking arms, coming together a few dollars at a time. If a bunch of people get together and put a few dollars in that becomes a tremendous amount of money. Unfortunately, research costs money; trips to the doctor cost money; counseling for family members who have lost a loved one costs money. It has got to come from somewhere.”
Members of the Darlington Police Department sold hotdogs Friday April 8 outside of the Darlington Walmart to raise money for Relay for Life. Photo by Melissa Rollins
The police department has been selling paper footprints and hanging them around their building.
“As I’m taping up the names there in the hallway, in memory of this person, in memory of that person, it hits you,” Watson said. “You think about people like Logan Gause, a student from West Florence High School and Baylor Till in Bishopville; even our city manager’s mother died from cancer. It has touched so many lives and we don’t take a hard enough, fierce enough stance against it.”
DPD held a hotdog sale last week. Watson said it is simple things like that sale that contribute to the staggering costs of cancer treatment and research.
“I think we can continue to do things like this (hotdog sale) and we can continue to work together,” Watson said. “There are a lot more survivors now than there were 20 years ago but there are still too many people who lose their lives. Last year in Darlington County 141 people died of cancer. In a county of 68,000 people, 141 deaths is just crazy. I know that, as of yet, there is no magic bullet, not vaccination or something like that that you can take but we shouldn’t stop trying.”
Having been in contact with many local survivors recently, Watson stresses the importance of supporting those going through the battle against cancer.
“ I know that there are so many people out there who have numerous different kinds of cancer who know how hard the treatments are and because of that that just give up and it is so sad,” Watson said. “Anything that we can do to continue to motivate people, to help them realize that they can survive, that there are people who will stand with that, that’s what makes a big difference.”
Anyone wishing to purchase a paper footprint, just $1 each, can visit the Darlington Police Department at 400 South Pearl Street in Darlington.
For more information about the Relay for Life event, visit www.relayforlife.org/darlingtonsc
