By Hannah Carver
NKyTribune reporter
Now 13 years cancer free, Martha Barnes and her identical twin sister, Amy Beck, continue to fight the disease putt by putt through their annual Rally for the Cure golf outing.
Two of their friends, Joyce Callery and Kristy Knobloch, started it all in 2005, just months after Barnes first learned her diagnosis: Stage 2A invasive papillary carcinoma, or more simply put, breast cancer.
“It was a rollercoaster at the time for us, for me,” Barnes said. “It took me about six months to get through the treatments.”
Identical twin sisters Amy Beck and Martha Barnes have a special goal for this year’s Rally for the Cure golf outing. They hope to raise an additional $13,000 that is made up of $13 donations in honor of the event’s 13th year (Photo provided).
Chemotherapy and radiation did not stop Barnes from playing in the first golf outing, though, and once she recovered, she and Beck both wanted to be involved in the planning process.
Since that time, the outing has raised more than a hundred thousand dollars for the Southwest Ohio Affiliate of Susan G. Komen, and now, the twin sisters spearhead the whole event.
For 2018, they’ve set an even loftier fundraising goal. In addition to earning money through players and sponsors, they want to raise an additional $13,000 made up of $13 donations. It’s all in honor of their lucky number, 13 – their birthday is October 13.
“It’s been a fun 13 years,” Barnes said. “Amy has been my support from day one, but to do an outing or a fundraising event is not easy… It takes work, and we always say it’s a labor of love.”
The two are used to working together, though. They’ve had each other since birth.
“Nothing new is ever as scary when you have a buddy all the time, and that’s how we grew up,” Barnes said. “We couldn’t imagine life without each other.”
Of course, throughout Barnes’ fight with breast cancer, Beck was right alongside her.
“I always have felt like I’ve been a positive person. You know the half-full, half-empty glass. I was always half full,” Barnes said. “So Amy immediately reminded me of that… and I tried to be as positive as I could, and I think that made a huge difference in the recovery.”
“One thing Martha did immediately, and she did this on her own, was to write a list of everybody she knew who was a cancer survivor,” Beck said. “She reread those and continued to add to that list as more people came to her memory.”
The thought behind it: “These other people have done this, so I can do this too,” Barnes said.
The list kept growing, and as it did, so did Barnes’ resolve that she could get through it.
Breast cancer survivors receive flowers at the Rally for the Cure golf outing to celebrate their strengths and provide a sense of hope (Photo provided).
Barnes now continues to try to pass that positivity on to others through mentoring. She started volunteering through her oncologist’s office near the end of her recovery, and since then, more and more people have asked for her help.
“It makes me feel good. I felt like I could give back because I was so fortunate to have a positive outcome, and I wanted to give hope to others,” Barnes said.
That sense of hope is what their golf outing is all about. Barnes and Beck describe it as a celebratory day.
“We always recognize every survivor that’s there. We call them up individually by name, and present them with some type of flowers,” Beck said. “It’s really emotional for me.”
This year’s Rally for the Cure is August 22. So far, Barnes and Beck have met about 21 percent of their $13,000 goal. For every $13, the donor’s name will be entered into a drawing for two round-trip tickets from Cincinnati to Chicago, compliments of Ultimate Air Shuttle, which is a VIP airline. The winner will be drawn during the golf outing.
There will also be other prizes, basket raffles, a decorated cart contest, and a silent auction. Included in the auction items:
A stay at The Kentucky Castle in Versailles
FC Cincinnati tickets
A stay at Richwood on the River in Milton
Cincinnati Reds tickets
A Louisville activities package.
There are still spots available for golfers, but those are expected to go quickly as the event has sold out for the past 11 years. Sponsorships and donations are another way to get involved.
To donate go to this website and for more information, contact Martha Barnes at mandkbarnes@fuse.net, or Amy Beck at awbeck@twc.com.
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