Hope Remains: Kate Dalton and Lynette Bowersock Co-Chair Hope Ball

The Hope Ball may be one of the most glamorous events on Little Rock’s social calendar but making it happen is anything but. The event’s chairs this year are two longtime volunteers, Lynette Bowersock and Kate Dalton, who have each spent several years as members of the 20th Century Club’s Lodge — the raison d’être of the Hope Ball. The lodge is unique in Arkansas, and in the nation, in that it is one of the few places to provide those who are battling one of life’s most difficult challenges — cancer — the opportunity to have a safe, comfortable and free place to stay while they are receiving treatment from one of the capital city’s prestigious hospitals.

Lynette and Kate are a formidable and inspiring team. Kate says of Lynette, “What I love about Lynette is her heart. She is a straight talker and will never shy away from saying the hard thing, but she has such a soft heart. She is a giver of her time and energy and has never told me ‘no’ when I asked for her help. Of Kate, Lynette says, “I loved Kate from the start and when I was asked to co-chair with her I was excited to do this with her. You couldn’t ask for a better person to work with.”

Soirée: In a nutshell, what is the 20th Century Lodge?

LYNETTE: It’s basically a place for people who come to Little Rock to get treatment for cancer and instead of having to sleep in their car while they get treatment — because a lot of people can’t afford to stay in a hotel for three weeks at a time — we provide a place to stay. We also give people the chance to bring a family member to take care of them. I think the lodge is nicer than a hotel. There are games they can play, there’s a piano, and so we give them that hope that they don’t have to worry. It’s bad enough that you are going through cancer, without having to worry about where you’re going to stay because you’re going to be in treatment for three weeks.

KATE: Or even six months at a time.

What is the layout of the lodge? Is there a communal area where everyone can get together?

LYNETTE: Yes, we have a big commercial-sized kitchen where we serve the meals or guests can cook if they want to. The rooms also have a small fridge and microwave, an en suite bathroom and TV.

KATE: There’s also a communal living room, a library and a big eating area with lots of tables where everyone can eat together. So it’s like a home with a living room, big kitchen and dining room. The living room has a beautiful fireplace. And there’s also a garden, but people are always just hanging out in the kitchen, just like in every house.

LYNETTE: We have limited spaces and some people say, “Well, how do you select who gets to stay?” But it’s the hospital that selects.

KATE: Hospitals refer needy patients to us who are either receiving chemotherapy or radiation. And we are not affiliated with a certain hospital; we receive patients from UAMS, CHI St. Vincent, from Baptist — all of the major hospitals refer patients to us. We have about 21 rooms and our mission is to provide no-cost lodging to our patients while they are going through their treatment.

LYNETTE: Just to have that security and to have someone with you means so much at a time like that. And they are fed, so they don’t have to spend money on food if they don’t want to or can’t afford to. We even provide entertainment with bingo nights or smoothie nights. Just to see them enjoying themselves and forgetting their troubles for a moment is priceless. Sometimes they’ve just had bad news and they just need someone to be there for them. There is a lot of camaraderie within the patients. They’re all going through it. It also has a big impact on us as members. After witnessing their struggles, you go home and think, “I’m not going to complain that I have to fix dinner for 20 people,” when they’re without their family and they’re sitting up there waiting to go to chemo. It makes us more humble. We realize what we have and don’t complain about what we’re going through because what they’re going through is so much worse.

KATE: Every Tuesday and Thursday night the members bring food, serve dinner and then we sit down and eat with them, talk and play games. There are various things throughout the week so the people who are there have a community. The lodge is a beautiful place.

LYNETTE: The patients really take care of it. We have a person who lives there who is on hand for anything they need and to take care of the lodge, but the patients take so much care of it, they appreciate it so much, and so many times they’ve come up and said, “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate this.”

KATE: And we have the “Angels,” who are 17-year-old high school girls who apply and do a set number of hours of service. They serve dinner and do additional things throughout the year. It’s a little different from other programs that would be just entirely fundraising or educational. These girls, alongside members, are really hands-on; you spend time with the patients, you cook for them and you get to know them. So it is very meaningful and a life-changing experience for these girls.

LYNETTE: My daughter, Taylor, was an Angel, and the first night she went she cried the whole way home because a person had received bad news. She almost didn’t want to go again. She said, “Mom, how do I do this?” I said, “Well, you’ve just got to be you, Taylor. Just talk about school, or talk about something else or ask them if you really are curious about something. You’ll know if they want to talk about it.” And she said this one lady did want to talk about it and said, “You know I got bad news today,” and Taylor said, “I mustn’t cry in front of her. If she has to go through this, then I need to be strong for her.”

KATE: It’s really humbling for us. I was having dinner with a couple there and the man who was having the treatment said that when he goes home he tries to describe the lodge, the no-cost lodging, the meals provided and just the lodge itself, and he said that people really can’t grasp that this place exists. He said, “You guys really are angels.” And I thought, well then, it’s appropriately named isn’t it! It was just so humbling to hear that because whenever you do something hands-on like that you really get more than you give.

Credit: Jason Masters

And how is the 20th Century Club’s Lodge funded?

LYNETTE: All through the Hope Ball.

So the ball really is the lifeblood of the lodge?

LYNETTE: Yes, that is the big night. And it’s stressful for us because I’m competitive so I want to beat the year before, but it really depends on the economy. If you lose people who donated the year before, it is a big blow for the lodge. But to be honest, I feel like our committee members do way more than we do, because they are the ones that are out there trying to get the corporate sponsors.

KATE: Last year, close to 800 people attended. There’s an auction and a band, and it’s a really good party. The Angels come and their service hours are presented. They are all in white ball gowns, so their families come to watch that, plus all patients that are staying with us. And, most importantly, there are so many ways to give. If you didn’t buy something at the auction, we have “fund-a-night” where someone can pay for a night’s stay — or as many nights’ stay as they’d like to — because it costs us $50 a night per patient to house.

You have 21 rooms, so that’s over $1,000 a night?

KATE: Plus the maintenance of the lodge.

LYNETTE: We got a generator this year, because if the power goes down we can’t have patients huddled up around one fireplace.

KATE: We saved money to buy a generator. Little things like that come up that we need to make sure we have money for. And so through fund-a-night we raise a significant portion of our funds. During the ball, we also show a video that features our guests and the work we do. In particular, we had a video with Charlotte, who was a young patient, just 20 years old, going through cancer treatment two years ago. We featured her because she’s a joy, she sparkles wherever she goes. She became cancer-free, and then this year she came back and they had to amputate her leg, and so …

LYNETTE: Wait till you hear what she did for Halloween.

KATE: She always has a smile on her face and makes the best of every situation, so this year for Halloween she was a peg-leg pirate.

LYNETTE: She just said, “This is my life and I’m going to rock it.”

KATE: She’s just a joy, so we are, again, hoping she’ll become cancer-free, but we decided to feature her again as an update.

LYNETTE: We wanted people to know that when they leave the ball, the cancer doesn’t leave too. Charlotte’s cancer wasn’t gone. The last time she was on the video she was dancing, now she’s lost a leg. She’s young and it came back and this is the reality. We go back to our everyday lives, but they can’t.

Is it possible for people to donate if they are unable to attend the Hope Ball?

KATE: Definitely. The Hope Ball is where we primarily fund our lodging expenses and costs, but people can be involved year-round. For example, Hiland Dairy contacted us this year and said that they wanted to be involved. They brought in a big refrigerator and they keep it stocked with milk and yogurt.

LYNETTE: And then the members donate a lot. You’re supposed to commit to providing two dinners a year but, really, we’re constantly making sure they have everything they need. I always go way overboard because I just don’t want them to go without.

KATE: And the lady that lives at the lodge will tell us what they’ve run out of and the members will make sure things are restocked. The members do a lot of the little things to keep it going.

Credit: Jason Masters

Can anyone get involved?

KATE: Of course. If someone is interested, they can get involved through either being a member (members have to be referred), or we do also sometimes have church groups who want to come in and do a dinner.

LYNETTE: I think a lot of people probably find the fund-a-night the easiest way to give. But anyone from big corporations can get involved, or even people just doing what they can. Everything makes a difference.

KATE: Plus there are also things you can do to like providing healthy snacks or providing prizes for bingo night. The patients like to get a prize.

LYNETTE: They get such a kick out of it. It’s so fun to watch their faces.

The Hope Ball

When: Saturday, March 12

Where: Statehouse Convention Center

Tickets + info: HopeAwayFromHome.org/TheHopeBall

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