SAN ANTONIO – The ThriveWell Healing Hearts Telethon is underway, raising money to help local cancer patients while continuing the legacy of late FOX San Antonio anchor Karen Martinez.
Viewers can donate now by calling the Healing Hearts phone bank at (210) 366-1434, texting “healhearts” to 202-999-3805 or scanning the QR code on their screen.
The telethon benefits the ThriveWell Cancer Foundation, a San Antonio nonprofit that provides services to cancer patients and their families as they navigate treatment.
The Healing Hearts campaign also carries a deeply personal connection for FOX San Antonio. Martinez received support from ThriveWell during her own cancer journey before she died in 2013. One of her final wishes was for the station to continue supporting the organization and other people battling cancer.
That promise continues with this year’s telethon.
This year, San Antonio philanthropist Gordon Hartman is giving the fundraising effort a major head start. The Gordon Hartman Family Foundation has committed to matching donations dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000, creating an opportunity to raise as much as $200,000.
Hartman said the mission hits close to home after both his wife and mother battled breast cancer.
My wife had cancer about eight years ago, breast cancer, and I was able to take her to all of her appointments,” Hartman said. “When my mom had breast cancer some 25 years ago, I took her to all of her appointments because I was able to do that as well. Many people are not able to do that.
That is one of the needs ThriveWell works to fill.
The organization provides transportation assistance to patients who need rides to appointments, financial help with treatment expenses and lodging assistance for people who must travel to San Antonio for care.
ThriveWell also offers free exercise, nutrition and wellness classes to anyone who has faced a cancer diagnosis, along with support groups for patients and caregivers.
The need for those services continues to grow. ThriveWell has temporarily paused its transportation assistance program through Oct. 31 because demand has outpaced available funding. The program now costs more than $1.1 million a year to operate.
As an added incentive, the first 150 people who donate $300 or more will receive a Cancun resort getaway, with airfare not included, and a chance to win a $500 H-E-B gift card.