ABILENE – The Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo in Abilene will make a donation of $3,424 to a cancer organization.

The Elsie Brooks Memorial Fund of Dickinson County is the recipient of the funds, which were collected from fans during the rodeo’s annual Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign, held on Friday, August 5.

For the past ten years, the rodeo has held “pink” night, collecting donations from fans that go to the fund, which benefits those with cancer in Dickinson County.

Elsie Brooks, an Abilene resident who passed away in 1988, bequeathed some of her estate to the fund, which is used for expenses for cancer patients. Board members meet with potential recipients, to determine how best to help them; money is given to help with anything from transportation to nutritional supplements and things insurance doesn’t cover.

Cancer patients in Dickinson County are in a unique situation, said Chris Ostermann, president of the Memorial Fund. There is no place to get cancer treatment in the county, so patients have to travel to Manhattan, Salina, or farther. “If you’re going to chemo treatments every day for six weeks, that takes a toll on finances,” she said.

Since the Memorial Fund began in 1993 it has given out over $250,000. Last year, 135 recipients received help through the Fund.

The rodeo is the Memorial Fund’s biggest fundraiser, Ostermann said. “People know the association between the rodeo and the fund. They come, ready to give, before they even enter the grandstand.”

Since the rodeo began hosting its Tough Enough to Wear Pink night and giving funds to the Memorial Fund, over $31,000 has been raised.

Next year’s Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo is August 1-4, 2018. More information can be found at www.WildBillHickokRodeo.com.