Community Bulletin
WVU Medicine St. Joseph’s Hospital and Buckhannon Upshur Rotary will offer $35 blood screenings by appointment Oct. 10-31 in Buckhannon and Nov. 7 in Rock Cave. Optional tests are available, and participants must fast for 12 hours. Read more →
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The WVU Cancer Institute kicked off Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a record-setting 2026 Pink Party, raising more than $185,000 to support statewide breast cancer screening via Bonnie’s Bus.
About 230 people gathered Sept. 28 at the Suncrest Towne Centre venue formerly known as Bartini Prime for the signature fundraising event. Attendees enjoyed delicious food and drinks, incredible auction items, exciting sweepstakes, special guests and more in support of the mobile mammography program.
Bonnie’s Bus travels the state to provide accessible screenings in all 55 West Virginia counties. Since the program’s inception in 2009, about 38,000 screening mammograms have been provided.
“The incredible success of the Pink Party is a testament to the compassion and commitment of people who believe in the work we do to bring mammograms to even our most rural communities,” Hannah Hazard-Jenkins, M.D., executive chair and director of the WVU Cancer Institute, Jean and Laurence DeLynn Chair of Oncology and professor in the Department of Surgery at the WVU School of Medicine, said. “Their generosity fuels Bonnie’s Bus as it brings breast cancer screenings directly to communities across our state. Every dollar raised means more lives changed, more cancers caught early, and more hope for families in West Virginia.”
Bonnie’s Bus launched thanks to the generosity of Mountain State natives Jo and Ben Statler, whose commitment to helping women access potentially lifesaving breast cancer screenings has made a lasting impact. The mobile unit is named in honor of Jo’s late mother, Bonnie Wells Wilson, who died of breast cancer in rural West Virginia because of limited access to screening mammography.
The WVU Cancer Institute’s Mobile Cancer Screening Program now includes two mobile mammography units — with the second one based in Charleston — that provide close to 4,000 screenings each year. Grant funding and donor support help cover the cost of operations and screening for eligible patients in West Virginia who are uninsured.
Special guests at this year’s Pink Party included WVU President Michael T. Benson, WVU Baseball Head Coach Steve Sabins, WVU Women’s Basketball Hayhurst Family Head Coach Mark Kellogg and WVU Rifle Head Coach Jon Hammond.
The event was made possible thanks to title sponsors Ben and Jo Statler, David and Patricia Biafora, Jim and Becky Laurita, Reita Hall in memory of Hubert Wells, and Gilead Oncology.
Observed each October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an opportunity to raise awareness about breast cancer, support those who have been diagnosed, share information about risk factors and prevention and encourage women to stay up to date on recommended screenings. The WVU Cancer Institute will close the month with its annual Betty Puskar Breast Cancer Walk slated Oct. 31 on Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Visit Cancer.WVUMedicine.org/Giving for more information about supporting the WVU Cancer Institute.
For more information about the WVU Cancer Institute, visit WVUMedicine.org/Cancer.
