Groups of caped and tutu-wearing adventurers were spotted in Sebastian recently, breaking into song, taking selfies, and performing random acts of kindness during the ninth annual Hunt for Hope Florida to benefit the IBC Network Foundation, which funds clinical research in hopes of finding a cure for Inflammatory Breast Cancer.
It was a welcome return to the event’s pre-pandemic shenanigans. Last year’s affair was a week-long virtual hunt, where teams hunted up clues and performed various tasks in their own neighborhoods.
This year, these selfless volunteers returned en masse to again traipse around town, trying to earn points by completing as many of the nearly 80 tasks assigned as possible in the allotted three-hour period. Participants took off from Riverview Park in Sebastian to visit sponsor locations, where they completed such tasks as hunting up mermaid statues, pumpkins and football players, and videotaping themselves eating tacos and having thumb wars.
While the antics were amusing, the harsh reality of IBC is devastating. As participants interacted with the community during the scavenger hunt, they also provided information about the deadly disease.
IBC typically affects women under 40 and has half the survival rate of other types of breast cancer. The disease initially presents as an infection or bug bite and, with the absence of a lump and little or no initial pain, generally does not raise concern. However, as the tagline of the nonprofit reminds women, “No lump … still cancer.”
Additionally, IBC is seldom detected through mammograms, meaning the disease is often misdiagnosed until it has progressed to Stage III or IV, thereby delaying critical treatment.
Dr. Holly Hamilton, owner of Riverside Family Dental in Sebastian, began hosting Hunt for Hope Florida in honor of her friend, Dr. Lori Grennan, a physician who initiated the first Hunt for Hope in Ohio while undergoing her own treatment for IBC. Although Grennan succumbed to her cancer eight years ago, the work she started with the all-volunteer IBC Network Foundation to raise funds for IBC clinical research continues.
The foundation, founded in 2011 by Terry Arnold, has raised nearly $1.4 million for research since its inception through corporate grant funding and events such as Hunt for Hope. “Little events like ours make a difference. The money we raise here goes in with other events to help push forward the work. You can be proud that your money will help,” said Hamilton.
She noted that it was the collective work of many small groups that funded the initial research and subsequently enabled the foundation to garner the attention of more significant donors.
For more information, visit theibcnetwork.org.
Photos by Kaila Jones
