Annual concert honoring White raises $7,000
Event helps Georgia Cancer Support of Polk County, helping patients with basic needs
With approximately $7,000 raised and awareness for Georgia Cancer Support of Polk County higher than ever, the fourth annual Robbie Podskoc White concert proved to be a notable success for both the organization and locals in general.
Musical acts such as Shelter, Isaac Streetman and the Rocktown Revival, and Deeper Than Shallow drew in dozens of locals who donated $10 per ticket to listen to the sounds of classic rock and country from the comfort of the Rockmart Theatre. Raffle drawings, a silent auction, and other sales helped to raise even more money for the organization that’s been aiding struggling cancer patients for years now.
Thanks to the group, diagnosed cancer patients earning less than $1,500 per month in total household income can apply for support at www.gcspolk.com or by phone at 470-388-9013, and accepted applicants can receive up to $150 in food, prescriptions, necessities, and much more each quarter of the year.
Those in need can apply up to 4 times per year, once per quarter, and Polk GCS is willing to make direct contact with patients who made need help filling out paperwork. Supplying gas cards and mitigating transportation costs are also two of the group’s main goals. Locals often have to travel all the way to Rome for treatment, so moving back and forth can prove troublesome.
“Our job is to assist low income cancer patients with transportation to and from Rome for their treatments,” Polk GCS Co-President Judy Wiggins said during the October 26 event. “Because Robbie said, she told us many, many times, stories about how she was at treatment and there were cancer patients who had to sit and wait for their daughters to get off work and take them home – even after they had gone through that long, grueling treatment. She said, ‘that’s just not right.’”
This year’s $7,000 figure is even higher than the totals earned at previous concerts, but there will always be patients in need. Those interested in making a donation to Polk GCS can mail to P.O Box 2 Rockmart, GA 30153 or contact the staff via the above email or telephone.
The group is also seeking volunteers, so those interested in helping out can contact any GCS Polk member, visit the group’s website or Facebook, or use the above telephone number or email address. As Wiggins explained, the group handles all of the money, works closely with the patients and their needs, and much more.
“The money that we raised here tonight, Julie and our group handle 100 percent of it,” Wiggins said. “None of it goes to the American Cancer Society or anywhere else like that. We do it in house. And these cancer patients we help, we talk to them on the phone. We pray for them. We think of them. It always stabs our heart whenever we get those forms in that say ‘I’ve been diagnosed with stage four cancer.’”
However, between donations and auctions, the concert remains Polk GCS’s biggest fundraiser. When Robbie Podskoc White passed away on January 10, 2016 after nearly 9 years of battling Stage 4 colon cancer, her loved ones and community refused to sit idly by as cancer patients continued to suffer in their hometown. In honor of their lost friend, the Georgia Cancer Support group, Polk County citizens, and many of White’s former schoolmates created what is now a Polk tradition.
Each band was thanked for their time and contributions to the event, but in particular, Shelter was credited as being of the biggest factors in the creation of the Robbie Podskoc White concert.
“Georgia Cancer Support really got this concert off the ground four years ago all thanks to Shelter,” Wiggins said. “Shelter got together and gave us a call and said, ‘we’d like to have a benefit concert and donate some money to the organization that our friend who passed away had started in Milledgeville.’”
Since White had always wanted to start Georgia Cancer Support in Polk County, Shelter and Polk GCS would eventually create and host the concert. Locals now have the chance to attend annually, and those who missed the 2019 show can still look forward to next fall.
More information about Polk GCS can be found by visiting https:// www.facebook.com/GCSpolk/.