Some people are more alive than others, even when not amongst the living. MaryEllen Locher is most certainly one of those people. Although this much beloved and award winning WTVC Channel 9 newscaster passed away two years ago from breast cancer, her name, spirit, and legacy continues in part, thanks to the hard working volunteers at the MaryEllen Locher Foundation.
“MaryEllen had such a way of taking the bad things in her life and turning them into something good for others. Sometimes I feel like MaryEllen’s right here guiding us,” says Jan Moses, one of MaryEllen’s closest friends and current president of the MaryEllen Locher Foundation, (formerly known as the Children of Breast Cancer Foundation when MaryEllen was alive).
As many people may know, MaryEllen started Hats from the Heart,a program that provides stylish and comfortable hats, free of charge, for cancer patients who have lost their hair during treatments.. This popular program is now offered in various hospitals throughout the United States. But what many people might not know is how and why Mary Ellen started the Children of Breast Cancer Foundation.
According to Jan Moses, “MaryEllen was BIG into education. When she got sick, her biggest fear was about her son, Alex: ‘What would happen to him? How would he be able to get an education?’ she’d ask. As anyone whose family has been faced with a catastrophic illness knows, finances can be depleted quickly. When I wanted to start a Make A Wish Foundation here in Chattanooga, she helped me without question. Both of us didn’t believe in sitting back when other people needed help. Then, when MaryEllen became ill, she asked me to help her start a scholarship fund that would help lift the financial and emotional burden faced by the growing number of children in our country whose family member has been touched by breast cancer. (Kids are the walking wounded). MaryEllen also thought this would help with the individual’s healing process because it would relieve some of the pressure. We started the foundation in Mel’s house, migrated to my house and eventually moved to our current place in the Shallowford Business Park, thanks to support from the Community Foundation, fund raisers, volunteers, and friends.
MaryEllen’s program has impacted people all over the U.S. One of our grant recipients who went to college is now doing breast cancer research. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if one of our beneficiaries discovered the cure?”
Chattanooga’s Karen Topping knows both the challenges faced by breast cancer patients and the respite offered by the MaryEllen Locher Foundation: “I was first diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer when I was 23 years old with two small children. Brittany was 3 years old and Lindsay was just 4 months old. A whirlwind of emotions come with the word ‘cancer.’ My first concern was for my girls. I couldn’t die! I had two girls to rear. I felt I was the only one who could care and love them the way they needed. I wanted them to know their mother.
“I prayed the same prayer everyday for many years: ‘please let me live long enough to rear my children.’ I was blessed because I went 15 years cancer free. Then, I felt another lump. I could only think ‘not again, not two times.’ I was again diagnosed with breast cancer--- this time it was stage 2.
“It was harder this time because my cancer was more advanced and my children were old enough to understand I could die. I had a mastectomy and chemotherapy. I wanted to shelter the girls from what I knew they were feeling and also what they were going to see. I knew I would be sick and that would only make them worry more.
“Once again I turned to the Lord for strength for myself and for the girls and I believe that is how we came to know about the breast cancer scholarship. One night I was watching the late news and MaryEllen Locher was talking about a lady with breast cancer. I was having a bad day and was feeling sorry for myself, and then I remembered she was also battling breast cancer for the second time.
“I felt like the Lord led me to e-mail MaryEllen at the station. I never really expected to get a response; I knew she was a busy lady. The very next day she e-mailed me back and said she couldn’t get me off her mind and asked how she could help. Over the next few months she prayed for me and was there to give me encouragement, all through e-mails.
“One day I e-mailed her saying we were filling out college applications for Brittany and that I was worried about how we were going to get the money. The next day she e-mailed me and said ‘you are not going to believe this, but I have just started a scholarship program called Children of Breast Cancer’ and that she wanted Brittany to apply.
“It was at the Breast Cancer Tea that I got to meet MaryEllen for the first time in person. Words could not express how thankful I am that the Lord led her into my life, not just for the chance at the scholarship, but for her everyday prayers to help me in my battle to beat this disease—something I learned later she did for so many women.
“The scholarship has been an answer to our prayers I was able to battle this disease and not have to worry about the financial burden this would be on our family. It will be four years this Oct. since my second diagnosis and I am now cancer free. Brittany has received a scholarship every year and this fall she will be a senior at UTC where she plans to become an elementary school teacher. Lindsay received her second scholarship and will start her second year at Chattanooga State where she will become a dental hygienist. I believe the scholarship has given my girls a bright future where they can achieve their life time goals."
MaryEllen Locher will never be forgotten. Those who knew her personally, and those who only know about her from word of mouth cannot help but be touched by the sincerity and compassion of this brave person who cared for others even while gravely ill, herself. The MaryEllen Locher Foundation is intent on continuing MaryEllen’s dream of offering college scholarships to those who might not otherwise be able to afford them because of cancer’s financial drain. To help keep the dream alive, Jan Moses, her team of volunteers, and many other friends help raise funds and awareness in several ways. They organize a festive spring luncheon each year; the Scenic City Survivors Support Group publishes a calendar every year, the Champion’s Club at Hampton Creek in Ooltewah organizes the Champion Golf Tournament each May, and during Riverbend, Lynnco Custom Cycles from Cleveland gives away a customized chopper.. Other fund raising programs are being planned as well.
If you would like to support MaryEllen’s vision or apply for a scholarship, visit www.maryellenlocherfoundation.org or call Jan Moses at 423-490-4555. MaryEllen Locher will never be forgotten and her vision lives on.