Adult prom to raise money for cancer victims
May 9—A formal night on the town can help support people battling cancer, promoters say.
A Night to Remember: Adult Prom for a Cure will be 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday at Muskogee Civic Center. Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society and Team Rutha Timmons Cancer Foundation.
Charlotte Neale said the prom honors her mother, Rutha Timmons, who died in February 2018 from breast cancer.
Neale said Timmons, who had 13 children, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. She was cancer-free for 10 years until it returned.
"Through that time, I found myself repeating things she would say to cancer survivors and people who were battling it," Neale said. "She always had something encouraging to say that was her vision She wanted to know they let them know that they can fight it."
Saturday's prom, for ages 21 and older, will be the third adult prom in Timmons' honor, Neale said.
"Last couple of years we wanted to do something in our community," Neale said. "Occasionally someone will reach out to us about a family where someone is battling cancer, they're off work, they need gas money."
Neale said spring is a season for high school proms and other formal events.
"For some it's their first prom," she said.
A prom will feature crowning of a king and queen, a man and woman battling or surviving cancer.
There will be a disc jockey and a professional photographer.
