St Augustine cancer survivor helps others

Michael Isam reported to Historic City News that when you meet 56-year-old St Johns County resident, Lynn Rothemund, you see a woman with more energy than a two-year-old freshly gorged on Halloween candy — you would never know she has cancer.

Rothemund says that both her mother and grandmother died of cancer. She has been diagnosed with stage-4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; affecting her bone marrow, abdomen, pelvic area and lymph nodes.

“In my genetic makeup is a gene that guides me to help others — I call it my volunteer gene,” Rothemund said. “The act of helping and doing keeps me positive, happy, focused, and out of trouble.”

Isam reported that on September 30, Rothemund would give her “volunteer gene” some exercise. She plans to ride her bicycle from the parking lot at OC White’s, located at 118 Avenida Menendez in St Augustine, for a total of 1,000 miles across Central Florida; helping to raise $40,000 to help other people going through the cancer treatments that she knows so well.

Rothemund said organizing the event was the easy part — “It’s just me and my bike, the challenge is biking the 1,000 miles in three weeks.”

In 2004, Rothemund made a 1,200-mile ride; raising $17,000 for Habitat for Humanity.

During this ride, Rothemund says whatever amount she raises will benefit “Think Pink” and “Art Breakers” — two local organizations that provide help to cancer patients.

Rothemund has partnered with Unity Outreach, Inc., a St Augustine based 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization, to handle collection and distribution of her donations. Unity Outreach was founded in 2006 two years after 31-year-old Judeen Owens lost her battle with breast cancer; it was organized by Owens’ mother, Sherry Turner, and her aunt, Peggy Jones.

Donations for next month’s ride can be arranged through PayPal on the Unity Outreach website or by calling Peggy Jones at (904) 571-1658 or by mail to 1190 Kings Estate Road, St Augustine, FL 32086.