HUNTINGTON -- For a young cancer patient, any distraction from their treatment and illness is a welcome change.

It could come from a video game, a movie or a stuffed animal.

For the family of a young cancer patient, help can come in many ways, too; a prescription, travel expenses or a celebration that signals the end of cancer treatments.

In whatever form, young lives affected by cancer are also impacted by an annual donation from organizers of the West Virginia Hot Dog Festival. This year, John F. Mandt Jr., president of Stewart's Original Hot Dogs, and Kym York-Blake, WV Hot Dog Festival event coordinator, presented a check for $18,500 to the Gift of Life fund. This money will be used to help set up help patients and their families receiving care in the Pediatric Oncology Program at the Edwards Comprehensive Cancer Center.

With the 2008 donation, the event is nearing $60,000 in donations to Gift of Life, a fund that helps underwrite the purchase of medications for those without insurance and to meet many of the other financial needs that pediatric oncology patients have.

Several years ago, Mandt, Judy Jennings, market manager of Clear Channel Radio Group-Huntington/Ashland, and York-Blake co-founded the West Virginia Hot Dog Festival with a goal of helping children with cancer. They have exceeded that goal by creating an event that grows every year and brings the community together for a worthwhile cause.

The fifth annual WV Hot Dog Festival is Saturday, July 25, 2009.

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