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Community 'goes pink' to assist former cancer society manager
10/25/2009 12:15 AM
By ROB NOVIT
Senior writer

From 1999 to 2004, Angie Sanders served as the area senior community manager for the American Cancer Society.

She talked with many cancer survivors during that time, encouraging them and supporting them and urging them to stay positive and to believe in the power of prayer. In turn, the survivors often amazed and moved her with their strength and courage.

Now, Sanders has been compelled to find her own strength.

Earlier this month, the Graniteville resident, her husband, Bobby, and their two children were shocked when a biopsy disclosed breast cancer. Just a few days later, she had a double bilateral mastectomy and will soon begin chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

"Three weeks ago, I didn't know I had cancer," Sanders said. "Looking back at my work with ACS, I preached hope, and now I know that feeling. It was always my message to stay positive with lots of prayer and go with what the Lord has laid on you. I have a strong faith for a reason, and I'm looking forward to what my testimony is going to be on this journey."

At a fundraiser for Sanders at USC Aiken Friday, she was smiling warmly as she chatted with well-wishers. But Sanders readily admitted that she burst into tears when she arrived at the Student Activity Center and saw what undergraduates were doing just for her and in support of her daughter, Taylor Ludwick, a USCA freshman.

Taylor's sorority sisters of Alpha Omega Pi, led by USCA junior Joy Fann, arranged for the Carolina Hair and Tanning Salon of Graniteville to provide pink highlights or streaks for $5 or $10, depending on the complexity of the process. All proceeds - $1,150 was raised Friday before 1 p.m. - will go directly to the Sanders family, and owner Leanne Cantrell plans to continue the project through the rest of October at her salon.

Things were already stressful for the Sanders family. Angie works part-time at Christian Heritage Church. Her husband has been in the construction business for two decades, but was laid off from a struggling firm about a year ago. Bobby Sanders has his own company, SanCon Inc., but business in the current economic climate has fallen off dramatically.

"But if I had been working," Bobby said, "I wouldn't have able to take care of her during the surgery and take her to doctors' appointments."

Their church and community friends have immediately responded with offers of assistance.

"We haven't asked for anything," Angie Sanders said. "Our church family and other people are just coming up and handing me a check. It's so humbling to have that done for me. Some other fundraisers have started, and we're so thankful. We wouldn't be able to make our bills."

Cantrell said she and Sanders were Aiken High School classmates some 25 years ago and reconnected about six years ago. The Sanders are clients of Cantrell and so is Fann, which is how the salon got involved with the project.

"It's an honor to be able to raise money to help Angie," said Cantrell. "Hopefully, we can raise tons."

Sanders' daughter, a 2009 Midland Valley High graduate, also has been overwhelmed by her sorority's generosity, especially since she just recently joined the organization. Taylor had shown up at a campus activity with a strip of pink for her mom. When Fann and others learned the reason, they soon came up with the fundraising project and invited the other Greek organizations on campus to take part.

When she was younger, Taylor attended Relay For Life events with her mom and watched her grandfather participate in the Survivor's Walk before his death a few years ago.

"My mom gets up and fights every day, so I have to be positive, too," Taylor said. "We know it's going to come out good. She's such a great mom and is always there for me."

All the survivors that Sanders met over the years have become her role models. People contacting her through Facebook have commented on her courage. Sanders acknowledged she is at a loss to explain it. But she has told friends that Satan doesn't know who he picked this time, because he's not going to win.

Some people have asked the type of wig she'll wear once her chemotherapy regimen begins. Actually, Sanders doesn't concern herself with the eventual loss of her hair and doesn't want to dwell on such issues for now anyway.

"I just want to hear the words 'cancer-free,'" she said. "When I joined ACS, I felt it was a calling. And then my dad got cancer. Perhaps the Lord was preparing me for what was coming. I'm going to stay positive, but I don't know how people could go through this without a church family and their faith."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.

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