Freedom Celebration gives $10,000 donation to Cancer Treatment Center

Photo by Klamath Falls Freedom Celebration

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - The Klamath Freedom Celebration’s annual Chris Brown Memorial Ride-Walk-Run raised $10,000 for the Sky Lakes Cancer Treatment Center this year. Their total contribution since 2016 is $31,100.

Doug and Chris Brown started the Klamath Freedom Celebration in 2010 with the vision to celebrate veterans, active-duty military, and first responders. Doug began raising money with Chris’s Causes for cancer treatment and care after the passing of Chris in March 2016.

The Klamath Freedom Celebration hosts many annual community events throughout the year including the Fourth of July and Veteran’s Day parades, and the Chris Brown Memorial Ride-Walk-Run. They collect donations at their events and on their website for Chris’s Causes. The money collected to help fight cancer is donated by Doug Brown to the Sky Lakes Cancer Treatment Center.

Chris was a Sky Lakes patient for her own cancer treatment in 2015 and 2016. Doug recalled Chris telling him “When I beat this thing, I’m going to advocate for this center,” and Doug said that he’s “carrying that on for her.”

Doug keeps his donations local to support the community. “I can actually see what is being done with the money and I’m proud of that.” In the past, the annual donation has gone towards changes to the Hugh Currin House, where patients can stay at reduced or no cost during their treatments.

This year the donated money is going toward financial support for patients when they need to travel to other cancer centers in the region for specialized treatment. This fund helps patients cover the cost of gas, rent, medicine co-pay, and lodging.

Brown stated that the sponsors and volunteers for their various events are important to the Klamath Freedom Celebration and that every year they have gathered more support.

“Everybody sponsor-wise is really stepping up to the plate,” said Brown, who also stated that “We don’t have a lot of volunteers so I like to thank the ones I have” and that in the future they would benefit from more support from volunteers and sponsors alike.

This year the primary sponsors were Pacific Crest Federal Credit Union and Ace Towing.

In the future, Brown would like to increase participation in the 5k and 10k run and add activities to the Chris Brown Memorial Ride-Walk-Run event to garner more interest. Doug planned a music event for 2020 but the pandemic meant the event had to be postponed to 2021. In 2022, Brown plans on hosting Klamath Freedom Days, a three-week event celebrating freedom including a music festival for the community.

“Me and Chris never had any kids, and this is our kid,” said Brown about the Klamath Freedom Celebration. “Losing her gave me the drive to do bigger and better things.”