Blankets donated to Camden Clark Medical Center cancer patients

PARKERSBURG -- A local car dealership has donated blankets to cancer patients at Camden Clark Medical Center.

On Thursday, representatives of Lou Thomas Subaru in Parkersburg presented a donation of around 80 tote bags and care blankets to the WVU Medicine Cancer Institute at Camden Clark.

During Subaru's Loves to Care month in June, messages of hope for cancer patients are written by visitors to Subaru retailers, according to a press release from Camden Clark. Those who write a message at a Subaru retailer will receive a reusable tote bag to help spread awareness of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the automaker's goal to provide hope and care, the press release said.

Lou Thomas Jr. said the dealership has been a regular participant in the "Subaru Loves To Care" campaign as well as other campaigns.

"It hits home, especially here in the Mid-Ohio Valley where so many people have cancer," he said. "We actually found out that a good friend of ours has Lymphoma.

"It is a terrible thing and it feels good to be able to step out and be able to help a little. It helps."

The blankets will be used by people going through chemotherapy to keep warm, Thomas said.

Marilyn McClure, oncology social worker at Camden Clark, said this is the third year Lou Thomas Subaru has donated blankets.

The LLS has been instrumental in raising funds for research as well as programs to help patients to co-pay for treatment and travel assistance, which has been used by patients locally.

"We are appreciative of the blankets," McClure said. "We will give them to some of our patients who are undergoing chemo and radiation treatments as well as some of our patients in the In-Patient Onology Unit. It is a nice added touch to provide some comfort."

When patients are at the hospital for treatment, they are there for a large part of the day.

The individualized notes that go along with the blankets are there to help lift the patients' spirits.