Dayton event provides fun chance to help local cancer patients

Rick Vaughn got dunked by his own son, and Devin, 6, had a great time doing it.

"Can I do it again?" Devin asked.

Several hundred kids and adults had a good time riding carnival rides, playing the games and eating the traditional cotton candy and ice cream Saturday at the Weekend Extravaganza at the Dayton Valley Golf and Country Club.

The event featured a carnival, pony and carriage rides, a silent auction, barbecue dinner and concert by David John and the Comstock Cowboys.

All to aid local residents stricken with cancer.

The carnival began Thursday and will finish today, along with the dunk tank and pony and carriage rides, with proceeds to benefit the Carson Advocates for Cancer Care, a volunteer organization that provides assistance locally to cancer patience.

Events like this make it possible for the group to help local residents, said Ann Proffitt, vice president for the organization, which she describes as a "hometown charity."

She said 100 percent of the proceeds from events like this will stay in the region, which covers Northern Nevada south of Reno, which she said has their own organizations to aid patients.

"We needed something down here," she said.

Proffitt, of Minden, is a 15-year breast cancer survivor and is well aware of how important help is to those afflicted with the disease.

The group helps cancer patients with medical expenses and pharmaceuticals for those who are uninsured or underinsured, and can help with co-payments and COBRA payments for those who have insurance, she said.

The need has to be medical, and there is an application process, but Proffitt said 92 percent of funds go directly to patients in the area.

"The only reason it's 92 percent is we are required to have an office," she said. "Otherwise it would be 100 percent."

There are seven board members to run the organization and 35 volunteers to help patients and to raise funds.

Proffitt, who is a supervisor at the Carson-Tahoe Cancer Research Center, said all the volunteers have other jobs, and hers is not related to Carson Advocates for Cancer Care.

She said Legado events coordinator Debbie Darnell approached her with the idea of a benefit, and it has been successful for a first-time event.

"We hope to do it every summer," she said.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-7351.