Vermont Business Magazine The Bennington Regional Chamber of Commerce will donate $1,000 in the name of Lindy Lynch to the local Cancer Center Community Crusaders.
“When Lindy passed away, the captains of Garlicfest made a promise that no matter the outcome of Garlicfest, we would donate something to the charity Lindy was so passionate about, the Cancer Crusaders,” explained Matt Harrington, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce.
Lindy Lynch passed away in early August after a long battle with cancer. Before her passing, Lynch was chair of the Garlicfest, as the festival is otherwise known as, for the past 12 years. Lindy is credited, along with her team of Garlicfest Captains, for growing the Garlicfest over 260% in those years. It is the main fundraiser and event for the Chamber. Lindy also served on the board of directors for the Chamber and was a Past President of the board.
The 24th annual Garlicfest was a success! The Chamber of Commerce welcomed over 16,000 visitors to the festival on Labor Day Weekend this year, breaking all previous records of attendance. The farmers’ market-style festival is known worldwide for it’s cascading rows of 200 plus garlic vendors, kids activities, food trucks, beer & wine garden, and regional live bands. It is considered to be one of the best garlic-themed festivals in the world by Reuters and was recently awarded as a Time-Honored Top 10 Fall Festival in Vermont by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce.
Harrington continued, “Our merchandise team were all about honoring Lindy at this Garlicfest. Every staff and volunteer shirt (over 150) had a pink “In Memoriam” emblem on the sleeve. Within that emblem was Lindy’s name, a black ribbon for her specific type of cancer, melanoma, and her years of life – 1956-2019.
Additionally, that circle emblem became a button attendees of Garlicfest could purchase that weekend with all proceeds going to Cancer Crusaders. They did pretty well in terms of sales of the button, but we wanted to go above and beyond for Lindy and the Crusaders, so the Chamber matched the revenue from the buttons bringing us to $1,000.”
The Cancer Center Community Crusaders is a not-for-profit group comprised of private citizens in and around Bennington County, VT. The organization works to raise funds in support of cancer patients and cancer research in the service area of the Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center (Bennington & Windham Counties in Vermont and nearby New York and Massachusetts).
Crusading Crews, representing local clubs, businesses, families, organizations, church groups and survivor support groups conduct fundraising and awareness events throughout the year to collect funds to support the overall mission of the group.
The mission of the Cancer Center Community Crusaders is to provide financial, physical, and emotional support to members of the community and their families as they strive to obtain the best cancer care and treatment possible. The group also allocates a portion of the funds it raises to support local and regional research efforts to end cancer.
On August 4th, 2019, the Crusaders’ Facebook Page read, “Lindy Lynch joined the Crusaders bringing a new energy to our group always motivating us, encouraging us and helping us in organizing our yearly fundraising events all while she was fighting her own battle against cancer. She loved her community. You could always find her involved in just about every activity going on in Bennington County. She has certainly left her mark in this world - a force to be reckoned with, for sure! No task was too large and along with her husband Kevin by her side they would always take on the challenge without hesitation. She welcomed so many others with an open heart to help them face their fears and provide hope and strength during their roughest days after receiving their cancer diagnosis. If you learned nothing else from her, you learned to be your own advocate all through treatment, doctor visits and medications and to explore all avenues of wellness options to guide you through your journey. We will miss you! We will continue to do our best to use your guidance as we continue the fight against cancer.”
The staff and board members of the Chamber of Commerce handed representatives of the Cancer Crusaders the official $1,000 check at the Chamber gardens located at 100 Veterans Memorial Drive in Bennington on Monday, September 30th at noon.
Photo (courtesy of New England Newspapers): From left, Cancer Center Community Crusaders tri-chairs Joanne Holden, Bob Gorry and Paige Kwasniak, Mary Morrissey, sponsorship chair of the Crusaders and member of the Chamber Board of Directors, Matt Harrington, Executive Director of the Bennington Chamber of Commerce, Erika Floriani, Chamber Membership Manager, Mikaela Lewis, Chamber Project Coordinator, and Brenda Jones, Chamber Past President of the Board and Garlicfest Captain.
Source: (Bennington, Vermont) – The Bennington Regional Chamber of Commerce 10.2.2019