21-05-2025
Adkins family to host 'cure for cancer' for 29th year
MOREHEAD More than 60 teams of golfers will hit the greens this Friday to kick off Memorial Day weekend while also marking the 29th Annual Rocky and Leah Adkins Cure for Cancer golf scramble.
Rocky Adkins, a lifelong eastern Kentucky figure and current senior adviser to Gov. Andy Beshear, also carries the title of "survivor," giving a personal drive for the near-30-year charity event.
"I'm a 30-year cancer survivor and my wife, Leah, is a breast cancer survivor," Adkins said ahead of Friday's event. "It means a great deal to us personally."
In the 29 consecutive years of hosting the benefit at Eagle Trace Golf Course, the Adkinses' personal effort combined with community involvement has allowed for nearly $4 million in total donations to UK King's Daughters Health Foundation.
A portion of those proceeds allowed the hospital to implement a mobile mammogram unit, a vital tool for early detection for eastern Kentuckians that may lack accessible testing and healthcare otherwise.
"Every penny (participants) contribute or donate to this cause goes directly into different causes that we support," Adkins said, including the mobile mammogram unit and expansion of UKKD's oncology center.
Through the golf charity, Adkins said the oncology center has been able to expand from 7,000 square feet to nearly 20,000 square feet, providing "a better environment for patients during chemo treatments or other treatments they may be receiving."
"We are so happy to be able to continue to support so many and will continue to promote and do everything we can to save lives and help people that are suffering from or yet to be diagnosed with cancer," Adkins said.
"We want to be sure we have the best facilities, relaxing environment and to be able to keep the mobile mammography unit that's saving lives every day because of early detection."
This year, Adkins said team slots were completely sold out with 34 teams scheduled for Friday morning and 30 to follow in the afternoon.
"We are so honored that so many people are able to come out and participate," Adkins said. "All of us know an individual who has either suffered from cancer, whether it be a close friend or family member, who have lost their life to cancer.
"So we're going to continue our battle for a cure to cancer and Leah and I, as a family, will continue to do what we can to provide resources to help every family member or cancer patient."
Adkins said the event always falls on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend intentionally.
"We're there to celebrate life but also there to honor and remember," Adkins said.
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