By LESLIE KELLY
Kitsap Week
Debbie Hill and Kay Hill Cook can’t recall who it was that told them they needed to attend the Kathleen Sutton Fund Auction. But several years ago, they did.
“It was a really nice event that a friend of a friend said we should go to and be a part of,” Debbie Hill said. “We went and we thought it was great.”
For more than 12 years, the Kathleen Sutton Fund, a nonprofit organization, has been providing assistance to women who need help with expenses getting to and from cancer treatments.
After Hill and Hill Cook attended their first auction, they had one critique.
“We also thought they needed to have it in a larger place,” Hill said.
So the women suggested places in Poulsbo, but the organization’s founders weren’t sure about moving it from Kathleen Sutton’s home community of Kingston to Poulsbo. When the women suggested the Pavilion at Port Gamble, something clicked.
“ViviAnn (Parnell) told me they couldn’t afford that,” Hill said. “So I told her I’d look into it.”
Through some negotiating for a good fee and through volunteering to pay it, Hill and Hill Cook were able to persuade the organization to move its annual charity auction to Port Gamble.
For the past several years, through their family business, Hill Moving, Debbie and Kay have paid the bill for renting the venue.
“Without that, we’d be spending money on a venue that we now can spend helping those with cancer,” said Parnell, of the Kathleen Sutton Fund. “They’ve been so supportive every year. They’ve helped out so much.”
Each October, Kathleen Sutton Fund volunteers host the annual fundraiser, which includes live and silent auctions. Women living in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Mason counties are eligible for assistance from the Kathleen Sutton Fund based on financial need.
“The auction proceeds are vital to helping women and their families in a time of extreme difficulty, distress and financial worry,” Parnell said. “Since its inception in 2003, the Kathleen Sutton Fund has provided assistance to more than 700 women in these counties, and has raised over $300,000. Last year’s auction was the highest ever, raising more than $47,000.”
Sutton, the fund’s namesake, died in 2004 after a battle with breast cancer. Parnell was a close friend of Sutton’s. From 1998 until 2004, Sutton underwent treatment for breast cancer in Seattle. As Parnell explained, a network of friends cherished their time with her as they drove her to many of her appointments. As they went back and forth from Sutton’s home, they realized the enormous financial burden for travel associated with cancer care.
“These expenses are not covered by insurance and significantly added to the overall cost of treatment,” Parnell said.
Upon Sutton’s death, Parnell started the fund in honor of her friend.
“It seems impossible to believe that we have women right here in our own communities who give up on treatment for their cancer, not because they can’t afford the treatment but because they don’t have the money to fill their car with gas or take the ferry to their chemo appointment,” Parnell said.
“For some women, it can be as much as $100 a trip, and they have to make 20, 30 or 40 trips over the course of their treatment. That is why we have the Kathleen Sutton Fund.”
Hill Cook said that at the first auction she attended, a young man came up to her and thanked her for being there.
“It was Kathleen’s son,” she said. “I didn’t know him, but he introduced himself. I just thought to myself, his mother must have been some special woman to have all these friends and family want to do this in her honor. I told him he should be very proud of his mother. “
Hill Moving, which is an independent family-run moving van line, has operated in Kitsap County since July 1986. The company supports a number of local charities, including the YWCA Alive Shelter in Bremerton and the Kitsap Humane Society.
“We’re part of the community,” Hill said. “We believe in the community because we live and work here. What happens here affects us and that’s why we do our part.”
“Plus, we get a kick out of it,” she added.
Hill Cook echoed that.
“It’s a great way to celebrate someone who meant to much to many people,” she said. “If I were sick, I’m not sure I’d have friends who’d go to the mat like that for me. She must have been a wonderful woman.”
Sutton lived in Shine on the Olympic Peninsula, worked in Kingston and was a well-respected businesswoman. She served as president of the Kingston Chamber of Commerce, organized the annual July 4th parade, and was a volunteer in many events.
This year’s auction will be on Oct. 4, 4-7 p.m., at the Hood Canal Vista Pavilion in Port Gamble. Doors open at 3:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.kathleensutton.org for $20 per person and include hors d’oeuvres, dessert and a beverage. Purchase tickets in advance and there will be no waiting to enter the event. Among the items at the auction is a vacation in Mexico.
Go to www.kathleensutton.org or email ksfund12@gmail.com for more information. Auction organizers are still looking for sponsors and items for the auction.
Kathleen Sutton Fund Auction
What: A live and silent auction benefiting the Kathleen Sutton Fund, with items such as a trip to Mexico. The evening includes hors d’oeuvres, dessert and beverages.
When: Oct. 4, 4-7 p.m. Doors open at 3:30 p.m.
Where: The Hood Canal Vista Pavilion, 4740 NE View Drive, Port Gamble.
Tickets: $20 per person, available through www.kathleensutton.org.
