GONZALES- The Gonzales Area Foundation has donated $80,000 to Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center to provide vital services and programs for cancer patients and their loved ones in Ascension Parish, the Cancer Center stated in a news release Wednesday.

One of the programs that will benefit from the donation is the Cancer Center’s survivorship initiative, which helps ensure the Cancer Center provides advanced support for patients and their families in the form of support groups, exercise classes, educational events and more.

Another large portion of the donation will be directed toward the Cancer Center's early detection Prevention on the Go Program, which includes the highly successful Live Well Ascension event, according to the release.

Focus on prevention and early detection services are essential in finding cancer in its earliest stage when better outcomes are more likely.

“The Cancer Center’s ability to provide vital resources to our patients in need in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is in large part due to the generous support of community groups like the Gonzales Area Foundation,” Todd Stevens said, president and CEO, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. “We thank the Foundation for its tremendous continued support of our mission to improve survivorship and lessen the burden of cancer.”

The Gonzales Area Foundation has donated over $1.5 million to Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center since 2016, the Cancer Center states.

“With patients and their caregivers needing support like never before during this unprecedented time of COVID-19, we are proud to be able to continue our support of Mary Bird Perkins,” DeEtte DeArmond said, founding member, Gonzales Area Foundation. “Raising this amount of money in the midst of the pandemic shows the commitment this community has to helping one another. We look forward to continuing our support in the years to come to help provide essential needs for patients in the future.”