It’s hard to image the situation Kim McCullough found herself in just two short years ago.
With a 2-year-old son and a 4-month-old daughter, McCullough was widowed when her husband Kent, 36, a Selbyville native and Indian River High School graduate, died — 18 months after a melanoma diagnosis.
It would have been easy — and understandable — for her to be all too consumed by the grief of that loss, but McCullough chose to give Kent’s death meaning. She held the first annual KENTucky Derby that May in Dewey Beach, just months after her husband’s February 2006 death, to raise money for the Melanoma Research Foundation.
“Our goal, when my husband was alive, was to figure out a way to raise awareness, so he sent letters out to friends and family urging them to get skin screenings — probably 150 of them,” McCullough said.
“Kent’s oncologist told us about the Melanoma Research Foundation,” she explained.
“I chose the first weekend in May for the fundraiser because, nationally, May is Melanoma Awareness Month and we wanted to do something in a beach town because we met in Dewey, and skin cancer is such an issue being in a beach town,” McCullough noted. “I felt we could educate people at the beach a little bit. And it was a good opportunity for people to come before the crowds. Also, he used to love the Kentucky Derby, so the play on words worked out really well.”
According to the foundation’s Web site, melanoma is a type of skin cancer that occurs in the cells that color the skin and make moles (melanocytes) and it is the most serious type of skin cancer because it can spread to lymph nodes or a distant site. It has a near 100 percent survival rate if caught in the earliest stages, but of all the types of skin cancers, melanoma is known to be the most deadly if missed in those early stages.
Approximately 60,000 people will be diagnosed with invasive melanoma and 8,100 will die this year from melanoma. Also according to the Melanoma Research Foundation, people of all ages, all races, all economic levels and both sexes are stricken; melanoma represents 5 percent of all skin cancers, but 71 percent of all skin cancer deaths. Melanoma occurs in all age groups, including pediatrics and the number of new melanomas diagnosed in the U.S. is increasing.
The foundation also states that it is the most common cancer in young adults ages 20 to 30, with more new cases of melanoma than HIV/AIDS. The primary cause of cancer death in women ages 25 to 30 is melanoma and it is second only to breast cancer for women ages 30 to 35 years.
The KENTucky Derby 2008 fundraiser is at North Beach in Dewey on May 3 from 4 to 8 p.m. and will have a silent auction with items such as artwork, lamps and spa gift certificates. They will also have a live auction for bigger-ticket items, such as a 42-inch flat screen TV, an Outer Banks beach house stay, and a Wii game system.
McCullough said they would have been happy to have 100 attendees the first year the KENTucky Derby was held, but more than 200 people came out to support the cause and they raised about $60,000. That is extra special since a research grant in Kent’s name could be awarded to doctors and scientists working toward a cure, because they raised more than $50,000.
Upwards of 300 people attended the event in 2007, and they raised approximately $65,000. They also got a proclamation from the mayor of Dewey Beach, Dell Tush, naming May as Melanoma Awareness Month, in honor of Kent McCullough.
In addition to the 2008 fundraiser at North Beach, McCullough said that the Starboard is hosting a pre-Derby kick-off with live music Friday night, starting at 7 p.m., and a portion of the proceeds will go toward the KENTucky Derby event.
For the long-term, McCullough said, they also would like to have postcards printed up for retail and restaurants to sell during the month of May.
“Eventually, I’d like to have Melanoma Awareness Weekend be like the greyhound weekend in Dewey,” she said. “My kids are 2 and 4 now, but when they get a little bit older, I’ll be able to work more on it. We made $60,000 the first year and $65,000 the second. We’d like to work our way up to $100,000, because there are different kinds of grants available.”
However, McCullough said she would like her efforts not to become too long-term.
“In 10 years I’d like to never have to do this again, because that would mean there’s a cure. I’d like to think there’s a cure.”
Tickets to the KENTucky Derby cost $50 and can be purchased online at www.mela-no-more.org (preferred) or at the door. For more information on melanoma, visit the Melanoma Research Foundation at www.melanoma.org online.