During the Dec. 16 Wyandotte City Council meeting, Michael Balcom (left), co-director of Be Well My Friends; Charlotte Hobbs, president of Be Well My Friends; Bernie Wolf; and Dr. David Wolf, of the Yes, Ma’am program, present a $4,000 donation from the annual Wyandotte Zombie Pub Crawl to the Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital program that funds mammograms for uninsured women.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – The charitable organization Be Well My Friends donated $4,000 raised during the annual Zombie Pub Crawl to the Yes Ma’am program that funds mammograms for uninsured women.
The gift was accepted by Paula Rodiguez, senior development officer at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital, along with Dr. David Wolf and his wife Bernie Wolf of the Yes, Ma’am program at the Dec. 16 City Council meeting.
Micael Balcom, co-director of Be Well My Friends, said this was the 10th Zombie Pub Crawl fundraiser the group has sponsored, and they have raised $114,000 during the past decade, most of which has been donated to the Yes, Ma’am program.
“It started with just two guys in a garage just trying to figure out how to do something for the community, and here we are, 10 years later, $114,000 raised, so I want to thank the bar district downtown, all the bars that participated in the Wyandotte Zombie Pub Crawl,” he said. “They’ve been just absolutely gracious with helping us out and making sure that we get the proper donations so that we can do different raffles and such.”
Balcom also thanked the Yes, Ma’am program volunteers who help with the Zombie check-ins the day of the event.
He said they also sponsor events with the Downriver Council for the Arts through the Oddfellow Concert Lounge, which raises money through concerts for the Be Well My Friends grant program, which provides one-time special needs grants for Downriver families and individuals who need help with things like rent, groceries or a car repair.
Applications for the one-time grants are on the group’s website, bewellmyfriends.org.
“I’ve even gone downstairs and paid somebody’s electric bill here,” Balcom said. “It’s just something that’s very humbling and amazing to do for the community.”
He said he hopes in 2025 to do fundraising events that are more family-oriented.
Balcom thanked sponsor Mike Mazloum of On the Rocks Bar and Restaurant and Green Acres Cannabis Dispensary in Riverview for their donations.
David Wolf said the Yes, Ma’am program is very important for the role it plays in helping save women’s lives through breast cancer detection.
“Screening mammograms are the number one way, not to prevent breast cancer, but to help save women’s lives because we get it early,” he said.
Wolf said they are able to do diagnostic mammograms, breast MRIs, breast ultrasounds and biopsies because of the people who believe in the program and help with the fundraising efforts.
“One out of eight women in America will get breast cancer,” he said. “So, we can’t prevent breast cancer yet, but we surely can try to decrease the death rate with women who get it.”
Wolf said their goal is to help save the lives of women without insurance and resources to pay for mammograms.
Bernie Wolf said the Yes, Ma’am program also provides comfort bags for women undergoing biopsies and chemotherapy.
“Just a couple of things that make them feel more comfortable,” she said. “Now, because of the money we have, we can go above and beyond.”
Bernie Wolf said they have obtained a scalp cooling machine that helps prevent hair loss for women going through chemotherapy.
She said they also provide a housekeeping voucher for women going through chemotherapy who need basic household help.
“It’s just some simple things to make their lives a little bit easier,” Bernie Wolf said. “So, everybody helps, and that’s so important, because everybody has to help one another, and if we just continue to do that for everybody, it would be a better world.”
David Wolf said dignity is important to everybody, and they help those who lose their hair during chemo who can’t afford a wig.
“I believe that we are the only organization in the state of Michigan that pays for that,” he said.
Mayor Robert DeSana, who lost a sister to breast cancer, said the efforts to help fund services for women, from mammograms to other needs during chemotherapy, means a lot to him.