NVCF, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Award $500,000 to Enloe’s New Comprehensive Cancer Center
CHICO, Calif., Sept. 14, 2023 – The North Valley Community Foundation and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. have awarded the Enloe Foundation $500,000 to help fund construction of the new Enloe Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chico. This new center will expand critically needed cancer care services in the North State, reducing travel time for patients and their loved ones. The approximately 97,000-square-foot, three-story building will cost close to $150 million to build and equip. The project will break ground in the spring of 2024 in the Meriam Park development.
The $500,000 grant came from NVCF's Butte Strong Fund, which was created after the Camp Fire on Nov. 8, 2018. The Butte Strong Fund is a partnership of three large fundraising efforts led by NVCF, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and the Aaron Rodgers NorCal Fire Recovery Fund at NVCF. More than $63 million for fire recovery projects has been distributed through NVCF since the disaster.
“Virtually every family locally has felt the impacts of cancer. Butte County’s cancer rates are among the highest in the state. The new cancer center is a vital step, and we are eager to support it with a $500,000 grant for construction,” said Alexa Benson-Valavanis, NVCF President and CEO. “Our staff and the Butte Strong Fund Citizens Committee looked at the high cancer rates and the closure of the Feather River Hospital campus in Paradise and decided the new Enloe center is a desperately needed project. It allows people in our county to receive this critical care close to their home and loved ones, without having to travel long distances for what can be a lengthy treatment and recovery process.”
The loss of health care services in Butte County resulting from the Camp Fire accelerated Enloe’s plan to build and equip an expanded comprehensive cancer center in Chico. The Enloe Foundation began a capital campaign in October of 2021 to help fund the vital project, so far raising $12.6 million thanks to the generosity of donors in the region.
“We are extremely grateful to the North Valley Community Foundation and the Butte Strong Fund,” said Enloe’s President and CEO Mike Wiltermood. “This is an incredible gift that couldn’t come at a better time for current and future cancer patients. Our new Comprehensive Cancer Center is a major step in restoring a whole host of critical health services destroyed in the Camp Fire. Our sincere thanks go out to Alexa Benson-Valavanis, the Butte Strong Citizen Committee and all the generous donors to the Butte Strong Fund.”
“It’s the Enloe Foundation’s hope that by expanding cancer services in our region, Camp Fire survivors and other North State residents will have better access to treatment closer to home,” said Jolene Francis, Enloe’s Vice President of Philanthropy & Communications. “We are humbled and immensely grateful for this grant. It will make a tremendous impact on our community.”
Approximately 40% of cancer patients in our region travel for care due to space constraints and limited local providers. The new center is expected to improve access and outcomes with expanded education, navigation services and supportive therapies. Increasing capacity with larger facilities and more equipment will also improve Enloe’s ability to recruit the highly trained oncology physicians needed in our region.
To learn more about Enloe’s new Comprehensive Cancer Center visit, www.enloe.org/campaign. To learn more about Butte Strong Fund visit, www.nvcf.org/buttestrongfund.
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