VALDOSTA — Patients at Pearlman Cancer Center received encouragement Wednesday when O’Steen Subaru arrived with blankets and messages of hope. 

Members of O’Steen delivered 80 blankets to the patients at South Georgia Medical Center’s cancer unit in partnership with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

“For us, we want to be a part of the community and give back to the community,” Jason Archer, O’Steen general manager, said, “and people that are battling cancer, they’ve got all they can handle at the time, and it seems like it’s just such a really good thing to be a part of.”

Tricia Hernandez is the senior manager patient access for the Georgia chapter of LLS. Sixteen years ago, Hernandez was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, she said.

Having been in remission for the last 15 years, she said she recalls being cold in the chemotherapy room and furnishing her own blanket.

“For someone from the community to say I want to make sure you’re warm as you’re going through a really difficult time is, I know, very meaningful to the patients here,” she said.

Hernandez said it’s physically and emotionally challenging to endure both a cancer diagnosis and treatment. “This is a true physical sign of warmth from one person to another, and I think that’s a huge gift that can be provided to the cancer patients in a very difficult time,” she said.

Peter Sorrentino, Pearlman’s administrative director, said the blankets are indications of the cancer center’s support to their patients. He agreed the blankets act as connections between the two.

It’s been three years since O’Steen first began to donate blankets to Pearlman, and Sorrentino said it’s nice to see community merchants show they care.

“I think that one of the most important things with dealing with cancer is that camaraderie between the whole community to help them,” he said.

The donations and hope messages are part of a national campaign between Subaru and LLS. 

Amanda Usher is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1274.