For the first time since 2019, breast cancer survivors, advocates, healthcare providers and supporters gathered for a Breast Cancer Awareness Rally & Health Fair in Clinton.
The event, put on by the BCCCP (Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program) advisory board and the Sampson County Health Department, was held Saturday afternoon at First Baptist Church of Clinton. It included motivational speakers, information booths, door prizes and refreshments to help “educate Sampson County residents and help low-income, uninsured, and underserved women access screening and diagnostic services to detect breast and cervical cancer at the earliest stages,” said Luke Smith, public health educator and one of the organizers of the rally.
After an opening prayer and welcome, Frances Sellars sang an inspirational song. Before her performance, she told the audience, “I want to dedicate this song that I sing to the fighters, the survivors, and to the loved ones, and to the caregivers. I know it’s a struggle. I don’t know what you’re going through; I can’t imagine. But in all that you do, don’t ever lose your grace.”
After the song, Mistress of Ceremony Sabrina Pope shared the statistics: one in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. “We are encouraging you to remember — mothers, daughters, sisters, friends,” she said. “The circle of caring never ends. Awareness of risk and early detection are every woman’s best hope. So spread the message, far and wide, so that we can save them all, large or small.”
Kelly Parrish, nursing director at Sampson County Health Department, shared information about BCCCP, which has been operated out of the health department for 22 years. “In that time, we have helped over 1,000 women access life-saving screenings for breast or cervical cancer,” Parrish explained. “And we’ve been there as they navigated the difficult journey and treatment following a diagnosis. This service has not only provided medical care; it has provided hope.”
She added that breast cancer continues to be one of the deadliest forms of cancer, but said she believes BCCCP and other organizations like it can help more women survive. Through BCCCP, women can get free or reduced-cost screenings and treatment.
“Cancer touches everyone in some way, through a friend or family member, or in my case, a personal battle of my own,” Parrish stated. “I can tell you firsthand that cancer takes a toll on every part of your life, physically, emotionally and spiritually. It is a journey where support makes all the difference and no one should have to go through this alone.”
Nettie Pernell, also a cancer survivor and a driving force behind BCCCP, introduced the guest speaker for the event, Rhonda Ferrell, state lead ambassador for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
Ferrell is a retired registered nurse with 28 years of nursing experience in the community college system. “Rhonda is also a 27-year breast cancer survivor,” Pernell shared, to applause from the audience. “She is an advocate. She will let you know what needs to be done and how we need to talk to our lawmakers about keeping research for breast cancer, as well as funding for health care in our rural communities.”
Ferrell recalled that she first became interested in breast cancer research when she was in college, and her aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. “Unfortunately, she died from it about eight or nine years later,” Ferrell said, “but her treatment was nothing like we have today. In fact, my treatment was nothing like what they get today. The people who get cancer have to go through so much.”
She started out teaching and through that, she became involved in Relay for Life in Duplin County, and then became interested in lobbying for cancer research in Washington, D.C.
“What we do is we go to Washington every single year and we make appointments with legislators from every state,” she said. “We met over 700 people this year.”
Ferrell advised that when speaking with legislators, it’s OK if you can only meet with staff, rather than the actual lawmaker. “The staff really know a lot more than the legislators know a lot of the times,” she said.
Under the current administration, cancer research has been cut, she informed. “When my aunt had breast cancer, when I had breast cancer and I have a friend who was diagnosed about a month ago, all three of our treatments were different. And the reason for that is research.”
She added, “If you don’t believe that, look at the people around you. They aren’t scarred. They don’t get sick. They still have emotional problems that go along with breast cancer, but the medications are much better. You don’t have to sit, like I did, five or six hours with an IV. You just take a pill.”
The ACSCAN is currently pushing for the Multi-Cancer Screening Bill, which would test for 10-15 types of cancer from one single blood draw. “It got through the Senate last year, and we hope it goes through the House this year,” she said.
Ferrell is also working on bio-marker testing, which is something that a patient undergoes once they’re diagnosed with cancer. “They are able to see what kind of you treatment you need without having to try this, this and this,” she explained. “They are able to say, ‘Oh, you have A kind of cancer, and A kind of cancer responds to this treatment.’ That will be a good thing and hopefully we’ll get that bill passed in North Carolina this year.”
Ferrell finalized her speech by encouraging those present to “get involved however you can.”