[KHTS] – Circle of Hope officials partnered the Moms Club and Eleven 12 Events to present their 4th Annual Bunco For Hope event in Valencia Sunday.

Participants were served lunch followed by Bunco games with dessert, silent auction and raffle winners announcement to conclude the day.

“It started four years ago at Wolf Creek Grill with 36 player and four years later we have nearly 130 players,”said Ray Tippet, executive director of Circle of Hope whose wife has been battling cancer for years. “We raised about $900 that first year. Last year they raised more than $4,500 for us and this years goal is $10,000. I think we’re almost there. I have every bit of confidence that they’ll raise it if not more.”

The purpose of the event is to raise money for the Circle of Hope, a local nonprofit organization in Santa Clarita that provides financial, emotional and educational assistance for cancer treatments.

More than 100 local businesses donated to the event with nearly 130 Santa Clarita Valley residents participating.

“When the patient is diagnosed, the family is diagnosed,” said Wendy Thrush, a board member for the Circle of Hope who has overcome her fight with cancer but goes through treatments for an autoimmune disease caused by the cancer treatments. “Which is turn, the community is diagnosed because that person works someplace, is a teacher, a doctor, works at Target, Macy’s. They’re community members so we’re all rallying together in support of that family.”

To be eligible to receive aid from the Circle of Hope, one of the qualifications is that the patient have to live, work, or see their doctor in the Santa Clarita Valley so that 100 percent of the funds stay in the valley, Tippet said. The board members and others who work at Circle of Hope are all volunteers as well. Nobody is paid.

“We reach approximately 150 individuals a year and accomplish this without any assistance from the state or federal Government,” Tippet said. “As we celebrate our 10th anniversary we have decided to broaden our services to include ovarian, cervical, uterine, colon, testicular, prostate and childhood cancers.”

Local sponsors of the Bunco for Hope event included Whitening Lightening, Nissan of Valencia and Logix among others.

“It’s about getting the word out. It really is,” said Tippet. “Obviously it’s helping and assisting individuals who have cancer and paying for their radiation, chemotherapy, medications, negotiating bill. The bigger thing is to get the word out in the community about who we are and how to get ahold of us.”

Circle of Hope official’s next event is 31 Days of Hope where they hope to raise money in the community for the organization every day of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“To those that have fought the fight, to those that have won, to those that have lost. We honor your courage and strength,” Tippet said in his toast speech. “To the ones that are currently preserving their diagnoses, we honor the examples you show us each and every day and how you live life to the fullest.

“To all of you here, the impact you have on the lives of others shows how we all come together for one another. We thank you for making a difference today for a brighter future tomorrow.”