By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Things at the Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office got a little hairy this month, but it was all for a good cause.
Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez said 18 of his deputies asked to participate in “No-Shave November” this year. Martinez gave his blessing, with the caveat that each deputy pays $40 for a month of allowing the growth of a beard and mustache.
Earlier this week, the deputies presented the $800 they raised to Stacey Covarrubias, cancer navigator with the Mary L. Pierce HOPE Cancer Resource Room at the Val Verde Regional Medical Center.
“I was approached about a week ago by Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, and he informed me that he and his people here at the sheriff’s office decided to do a fundraiser, where he was going to charge them $40 per person to allow them to grow their beards out. Of course, they’re supposed to be clean-shaven with their uniforms, but to make it fun and a fundraiser at the same time, he was going to charge them $40 and let them grow their beards out,” Covarrubias said.
“All the money that was raised through this fundraiser will be going to the cancer resource room, and they’re all doing it in honor of Mary Pierce, which I thought was fantastic, because Mary Pierce, who we named the resource room after, was somebody who was instrumental in the community, promoting and advocating for preventative measures against cancer and fighting your hardest while you were going through your journey with cancer,” she added.
Covarrubias said the donation was doubly meaningful since Martinez had been a friend of Pierce’s before she lost her battle to cancer, adding the sheriff’s office has always been ready to help with projects and donations.
She said all of the monies will be going to further the work of the cancer resource room.
“We’re located inside Val Verde Regional Medical Center, just inside the old main entrance. The resource room has been there about seven years, and I’ve been there for five years . . . What we do is provide support – emotional, physical, monetary, whatever we can – to help people while they’re going through their journey with cancer,” Covarrubias said.
Often, clients come in just after they get a cancer diagnosis.
“If they come in and they’re newly diagnosed, and they need someone to explain to them, to get away from that medical jargon, we will put it into terms they can understand. If they don’t know what their next step is, we sit down with them and navigate through that,” she said.
“We introduce you to an oncologist and ask them where they want to go for treatment. San Antonio? Uvalde? San Angelo? Because Del Rio does not have an oncologist who is currently taking patients, so we’ve got to outsource, and that can be something that is really overwhelming if you’ve just been diagnosed and don’t know where to start, so that’s where we step in,” she said.
The cancer resource room and Covarrubias can also provide more tangible assistance.
“So if anybody comes in, and they’ve gone through the mastectomy procedure and they’re needing to get a prosthetic or mastectomy bra, and they’ve been cleared by their surgeon, they can come in and get those things for free from the cancer resource room.
“All they need to do is call me to set up a fitting appointment and have the prescription from their provider,” she added.
Anyone who needs assistance from the cancer resource room can visit the Val Verde Regional Medical Center’s website at www.vvrmc.org, click on services, then on cancer services, and Covarrubias’ contact information is there.
They can also call the cancer resource room at (830) 778-3852 or they can email Covarrubias at stacey.covarrubias@vvrmc.org
Martinez said he was happy to help.
“The deputies came up with the idea to let them grow a beard for No-shave November, so I said okay; I need at least 15 of you to do it, and we’re going to do it for a good cause, so it will cost you all $40 apiece. I had 18 deputies who participated, and the chief and I pitched in for good measure,” Martinez said.
“We were able to raise a little bit of money. The guys had fun with it, and the money’s going to a good cause,” he said.
According to the web site no-shave.org, the Hill family of Chicago, Ill., “reinvented” No-shave November as a fundraising vehicle after a family member died of cancer. The event has grown into a nationwide phenomenon, with participants donating the cost of a visit to the barber or salon to organizations that promote cancer prevention, research and education.
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