On April 11, the Sleepy Cat Urban Winery in Allentown hosts the American Cancer Society, broadcasting live interviews by Mike Kelly of top 40 radio station B104 in support of the telethon taking place at Penn\u2019s Peak in the Poconos.<\/p>\n
Receiving the Courage Award at this year\u2019s event is Bari Pollock, who manages social media for multiple ACS Relay for Life chapters. Pollock works with teams in the Lehigh Valley; Warren County, New Jersey and Rahway, New Jersey. Relay for Life began in 1985 when Dr. Gordon Klatt did a 24-hour combination walk-run in Tacoma, Washington, to raise money for the ACS and awareness of cancer nationwide.<\/p>\n
Pollock was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer at the age of 28 and quickly learned the value of a strong support network.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ended up at the most amazing oncology office with the most amazing oncologist I could ask for. She made the treatment options understandable and she has the best bedside manner possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Family also helped Pollock prepare for the ups and downs of treatment. Her boyfriend\u2019s relatives, who have supported family members on their own cancer journeys, stepped up to help the newly diagnosed Pollock.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s better to go into a doctor\u2019s office with more information and more questions,\u201d Pollock said, emphasizing, \u201cYou have to be in charge of your own journey. It doesn\u2019t mean that I don\u2019t trust [an oncology nurse] if I ask them to wait while we double-check [on a treatment protocol].\u201d<\/p>\n
Pollock grew up in Matawan, N. J., and lives in Emmaus. One of the adjustments she has made, due to her ongoing cancer treatments, is leaving her teaching career for work in the bakery of a grocery store. Her attitude in this situation is typical of Pollock\u2019s generous spirit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have wonderful managers who are very kind, who understand my situation and what I\u2019m going through,\u201d she explained, adding, \u201cEvery job is important. The cookies I\u2019m making, someone could be gifting them to someone who just got a promotion. It can make a difference in someone\u2019s life, even for a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relay for Life is a key component of Pollock\u2019s support network. Involved in Relay as a high school student and with Colleges Against Cancer later, she became a volunteer when she received her cancer diagnosis and started with the Rahway chapter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have such an amazing support network and Relay family there,\u201d she said. She now contributes her time and talents to promote the Lehigh Valley, Rahway, and Warren County chapters on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cI enjoy doing social media with them because people have become such great Relay family,\u201d Pollock enthused. One of her Relay family members is an oncology nurse who is not involved in Pollock\u2019s treatment, but they text each other every morning. \u201cEven with her very busy schedule,\u201d Pollock noted, \u201cshe still takes time to remember me.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Relay events, teams man fundraising tables, do laps of the venue to the extent they are able and honor survivors and remember those lost to cancer with luminaria. One Rahway event had a Zumba instructor; Warren County hosted a cakewalk; the Lehigh Valley chapter distributed cards as participants walked the track, with the cards redeemable for prizes.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not all fun and games, Pollock explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething what\u2019s very touching are the luminarias. We do them in honor of someone who\u2019s a survivor, or in memory of someone who passed away, and we decorate them based on the person\u2019s likes and who they were.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe put little tea light candles in the bag and put them around the track, and [walkers] do silent laps. There was one time I saw somebody kneel down and just cry sitting in front of them. Someone told me, \u2018Treat these bags like they\u2019re the real person.\u2019 This is somebody\u2019s family member that we\u2019re honoring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pollock opens her heart to fellow survivors, explaining, \u201cYou\u2019re a survivor from the moment you hear the words, \u2018You have cancer.\u2019 It doesn\u2019t start from the second you ring the bell, but from the second you are diagnosed and start fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her own fight, she said, \u201cHaving that amazing support system makes the absolute world of a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Photo courtesy of Alan Sylvestre Media, LLCBari Pollock is receiving the 2026 American Cancer Society Courage Award for her work with Relay for Life.<\/p>\n
Photo courtesy of Bari PollockMisty, her beloved cat, is a crucial companion for cancer survivor Bari Pollock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On April 11, the Sleepy Cat Urban Winery in Allentown hosts the American Cancer Society, broadcasting live interviews…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-160619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}