Ft. Thomas, KY – St. Elizabeth Healthcare Bands Against Cancer family music festival will be held at Tower Park in Ft. Thomas on August 11. The festival will benefit patients, families and friends impacted by cancer. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates in 2018 more than 1.7 million people will be diagnosed with cancer. The NCI also ranks Kenton, Boone and Campbell counties in the top 10 counties in the Commonwealth for highest rate of annual cancer diagnosis.
“St. Elizabeth Healthcare Bands Against Cancer” was formed when Dr. Dan Flora, a physician at St. Elizabeth, and his patient Brian Lauer, a local businessman and musician, discovered their mutual love of music and determination to help others impacted by cancer. They teamed up with St. Elizabeth and the City of Ft. Thomas to create a family event with music, food trucks and children’s activities to help Northern Kentucky residents touched by a cancer diagnosis.
Dr. Flora says, “When Brian and I discovered we both played in local bands and loved music, we started talking about how we could create an event that helped others dealing with a cancer diagnosis. We hope to make “St. Elizabeth Healthcare Bands Against Cancer” an annual event in Ft. Thomas. I also like to think of this as the kickoff to the new St. Elizabeth Cancer Center because we will be breaking ground just two days before this festival.”
This concert event will be held at Tower Park in Ft. Thomas from 2:30 – 11:30 p.m. The lineup of local bands is Southern Charm (3 p.m. start), Borderline (5 p.m. start), Naked Karate Girls (7 p.m. start) and Britney’s Lipstick (9:30 p.m. start).
Lauer is a member of the band Borderline and he credits his band mates with helping him through his treatment. “I hadn’t played in a band for a few years. When my friends and neighbors saw I was struggling during treatment, they wanted to give me something else to focus on, so they invited me to a band rehearsal and then to a gig. I have been playing with them ever since.”
All proceeds will go to Cancer Family Care, a local nonprofit helping alleviate the suffering and strengthen the well-being of any child, adult and family coping with cancer. Cancer Family Care has offices in Ft. Thomas and Florence. All donations and sponsorships for this event will be earmarked to support Northern Kentucky families coping with cancer. Sponsorships are still available by contacting Cancer Family Care at (513) 731-3346 or donate directly at www.cancerfamilycare.org.
Lauer describes why creating this annual event was so important to him, “My wife, Mandy, and my children Lucas and Preston, as well as my friends and family, were a constant support to me during my cancer diagnosis and treatment. By raising money for Cancer Family Care through this music festival, I feel like I am paying forward everything they gave to me while helping others who may not have such a strong support system. Music also helped me through my treatment, so it just made sense to hold a music festival.”
“Cancer Family Care provides a valuable resource to those impacted by cancer. Cancer can play an emotional toll on everyone in the family. Cancer Family Care provides therapeutic counseling, education, and support, for those who have been impacted by a cancer diagnosis in the family or by a loss due to cancer,” explains Dr. Flora.