Rexanna’s Foundation for Fighting Lung Cancer is bringing its message of hope, advocacy, and awareness to Lake Travis at the 10th Annual Lone Star Huddle Up on Saturday, November 5 at Sonesta Bee Cave Hotel.
This special evening dedicated to a very important cause includes a Texas BBQ dinner, silent and live auction, and dancing with music by The Lake Travis Fiddlers and headliner Kris Gordon.
Did you know lung cancer kills more people than breast, prostate, colon, liver, melanoma, and kidney cancers combined?
The statistics are staggering, but thanks to organizations like Rexanna’s Foundation, lives are being saved.
Rexanna’s Foundation was founded in honor of Rexanna Hawkins who died of lung cancer on June 21, 2006 at the age of 49.
Never a smoker, Rexanna found out she had lung cancer on April 21, 2006. Despite the dismal odds, Rexanna impacted others with her unwavering enthusiasm and her determination to fight it. One of the people she impacted the most was her doctor, Dr. Daniel Karp. In fact, today he serves as the Medical Advisor to Rexanna’s Foundation.
Rexanna’s story is widely known in the Lake Travis area since she made such a positive impact locally as the Athletic Director at Lake Travis Middle School for 18 years. She also worked at school districts in Abilene and Refugio, Texas coaching girls volleyball, track, and golf.
It’s easy to see how inspirational Rexanna was during her agonizing struggle by reading journal entries from her friends and family.
After her shocking diagnosis, Rexanna decided to undergo treatment in Houston at M.D. Anderson. She was sad to leave Austin, but the support from the Lake Travis community was a constant joy. She would receive photos, gifts, and video messages from her friends and the people she inspired throughout her journey.
The students in Lake Travis sold “Lovestrong” bracelets and the community held a fundraiser to help with her medical expenses. Even though she had to leave her community, her community never left her.
Today Rexanna’s Foundation not only donates money to lung cancer research, but it also provides scholarships, education, and resources for the general public, lung cancer patients, and for families and friends who have loved ones with this disease. The organization fights for legislation designed to increase funding for lung cancer research, which is grossly underfunded.
Rexanna’s Foundation is a proud member of the Lung Cancer Action Network “LungCAN”, a collaborative group of 27 lung cancer advocacy organizations. They have come together to raise awareness about the realities of lung cancer with the intention of increasing funding for detecting, treating, and curing the disease.
Because of your continued support, Rexanna’s Foundation funding has been critical to targeted lung cancer research projects at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Rexanna’s Foundation donations have generated over $7 million dollars in lung cancer research grants.
Tickets for the 10th Annual Lone Star Huddle Up are available online.
Editor’s note: The original version of this post was published on November 5, 2014. It has been updated for this year’s event.
It is good to know that her life and memories live on through her foundation and give hope for a cure of such a deadly form of cancer. Good article.