Shown at the Vulcan Funshoot are (front row, left to right) Vulcan employees Michelle Weber, Joan Blankenship, Pam Jones and Steve Guenther with Francisco González-Scarano, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at the UT Health Science Center. In the back row are Vulcan Materials’ Tom Ransdell, Southwest Division past president; Jeff Lott, Southwest Division vice president and general manager; and Pat Bendele, Statewide Transport, general manager; with CTRC Director Ian M. Thompson Jr., M.D., and Athanassios (Ethan) Argiris, M.D., CTRC chief of hematology/oncology.
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By Elizabeth Allen

On Sept. 10, one of the first cool mornings in months, about 300 people turned out to fire shotguns at sporting clays and raise money for the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.

Many of them had been to every one of the 17 previous Vulcan Materials Funshoots, said Pat Kerry, a former general manager and director of marketing at Vulcan. Now retired, Kerry still would not miss the camaraderie and fundraising the event combines.

“We started this because we wanted to do something that was important. There’s not anybody who hasn’t been touched by cancer,” Kerry said. After years of raising money for the CTRC, he said, a friend and colleague who was diagnosed with cancer chose to be treated there, and throughout his experience he praised the level of technical expertise and caring he received.

Enjoying the Funshoot are (left to right) Craig Comish, vice president of oncology services and neurosciences at Baptist Health System; Ian M. Thompson Jr., M.D., director of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center; Tom Ransdell, past president of the Southwest Division of Vulcan Materials and a member of the CTRC Board of Governors and CTRC Foundation Board; and Athanassios “Ethan” Argiris, M.D., CTRC chief of hematology/oncology.

“They’re kind of like angels on earth at CTRC,” Kerry said. “Not everybody can do what they do — and they do it selflessly.”

The Funshoot, held at the National Shooting Complex just west of San Antonio, also featured a silent auction and drawing with prizes ranging from original art to guided hunts. It raised more than $100,000.

“In 1994, cancer had touched the lives of several Vulcan Materials Company employees and family members,” said Pat Bendele, statewide transport general manager at Vulcan. “We wanted to organize a unique fundraiser that would benefit a local organization in the fight against cancer.

“We chose CTRC because of the great work that they do and have enjoyed working with them for the past 18 years,” Bendele said. “We feel blessed to have CTRC in our community.”