Bridget's Gift receives $5,000 for cancer fight

Knowing that cancer touches many lives, including their employees and customers, a grocery store chain has donated $5,000 to help fulfill a Yuma native's dying wish.

Through its 2012 Giving Hope a Hand Campaign, Fry's Food Stores made the donation to the Bridget's Gift Fund at the Foundation of Yuma Regional Medical Center to support breast cancer awareness.

Bridget's Gift Fund honors Bridget Orta Martinez, a Yuma native who died of breast cancer in 2011. A massage therapist, Martinez was 38 when diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer and thyroid cancer. She died a year later.

Family and friends said her wish was to increase breast cancer education and provide support for breast exams, programs and services.

The Fry's campaign is helping them to do just that, according to Lolly Neahr, Bridget's Gift board member.

“This grant from Fry's Food Stores will help Bridget's Gift fulfill its commitment to provide breast cancer education and resource awareness to Yuma County,” Neahr said.

“Bridget's Gift is honored by the ongoing partnership with Fry's Food Stores,” she added.

The purpose of Fry's campaign is to support cancer awareness, treatment and research programs in local communities, said Pam Giannonatti, Fry's consumer and community relations manager.

“Knowing the toll breast cancer takes on the lives of our associates and customers, Fry's is continuing its commitment to finding a cure for this deadly disease and helping women and their families find the treatment and resources they need to face their illness,” Giannonatti said.

The campaign committed to donating $3 million to local breast cancer initiatives across the nation during October in support of the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Since the onset of the campaign in 2006, more than $18 million has been disbursed to support breast cancer research, education and services.

For more information on Bridget's Gift Fund or Foundation of Yuma Regional Medical Center, contact Serena Holthaus at sholthaus@yumaregional.org or 336-2445.

Mara Knaub can be reached at mknaub@yumasun.com or 539-6856. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSMaraKnaub or on Twitter at @YSMaraKnaub.