Lynda Johnson: Building Hope

Anyone who has triumphed over cancer or held the hand of a family member or friend facing the disease knows hope can be a lifeline, and those who help give hope, our heroes. Lynda Johnson, a partner with Friday, Eldredge & Clark, is one of those people.

For the past nine years, the health care lawyer and West Helena native has been a member of the 20th Century Club, an organization committed to providing no-cost, temporary lodging, comfort and compassion to financially needy cancer patients who must travel to Little Rock to receive treatment.

Johnson admits that she first got involved with the club because so many of her friends had joined. But in no time she changed her tune. “After becoming involved in the group and participating in serving dinners to our patients, I began to appreciate the meaningful work our organization performs,” she said. “Visiting with patients who have had to travel away from their homes to be treated for such a devastating illness made me realize what a burden just the traveling [can be] on these families.”

The 20th Century Club’s first lodge opened in 1984 on South Broadway Street. “It served us well, but was limited in size and amenities that were needed by our patients, like private bathrooms,” Johnson said. In 2005, the club sold the lodge and began housing patients at a local hotel. Then in 2008, they began planning to build a new lodge, which will contain 21 private patient suites and will encompass more than 17,000 square feet at the corner of Cedar and Maryland streets. The club is currently able to provide approximately 1,500 nights of patient lodging per year to more than 240 patients, but upon completion of the new lodge, they will be enabled to provide so much more.

And according to Johnson, it is more important now than ever that the club continues to provide lodging for Arkansas’ cancer patients in need. “Arkansas has the 35th highest overall cancer incidence rate among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Thus, the annual incidence rate is 449.1 cases per 1,000 individuals,” she said.

A capital campaign was put in place to raise the $3 million needed to build the lodge, and the club is currently only $300,000 away from groundbreaking. And there’s even more good news. “We were recently awarded a challenge grant by the Mabee Foundation,” said Johnson, who is chair of the steering committee responsible for raising the funds. “If we are able to reach our goal of $3 million by April 15, 2010, we will receive an additional $360,000 from the Mabee Foundation. In anticipation of reaching our goal, we have set our groundbreaking for April 2, 2010,” she added.

One of the primary methods of raising funds for the lodge is the annual Hope Ball. This year’s ball will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 13, 2010, in the Peabody Little Rock’s Grand Ballroom. Tickets are $200 per person and may be purchased by contacting Ann Rowell at 225-2731. Or, if you’d just like to donate to the capital campaign, please contact Lynda Johnson at 370-1553 or ljohnson@fridayfirm.com. All of the proceeds benefit the capital campaign and the 20th Century Club’s Lodge, which the organization describes as much more than a place to stay. “It is a caring, compassionate environment that builds a bridge of hope over a chasm of worry. We are hope away from home for our patients.”