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Varsity Sports to host Run/Walk cancer fundraiser today to raise money for Zeeland Street Market owner
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BATON ROUGE - The owner of Zeeland Street Market, a longtime community fixture on Perkins Road, was recently diagnosed with stage 3A lung cancer.
Varsity Sports Baton Rouge, which is in the same block, has scheduled a run/walk fundraiser on Aug. 29 to help Stephanie Phares cover the costs of treatment and of running her business as she begins treatment.
Phares and her family have been serving the Baton Rouge community for more than 30 years. She arrived in the city as an LSU student back in the 1980s, coming from Jackson, Mississippi.
"I went around introducing myself because I wanted people to know who I am and so I started to give a potluck. Supper, and you could come by and give a pie or a salad and we'd have dinner," Phares said.
Word spread about her cooking, and in 1992, Phares and her husband opened the restaurant for business. For many years, it was going great.
Then a few months ago, Phares got sick. Her doctor delivered life-changing news.
"I had had pneumonia, and so they had to do a chest scan, and they saw a little blip. Had very clear lungs, but he thought he saw something and they were able to do a biopsy. From that, they found out that I had lung cancer," Phares said.
It was stage 3A lung cancer and she has since started treatment, which includes radiation and chemotherapy.
As news spread to neighboring businesses, the staff at Varsity had an idea.
"We have a run group that's associated with Varsity Sports and they love to do fundraisers. When we found out about Stephanie, the run group definitely wanted to help," Manager Kristen Manske said.
The store decided to host a fundraiser for Phares that starts with a run or a walk and ends with live music and beer at Phares' restaurant.
"A $20 donation will get you a $10 gift card to Varsity Sports [and] a beer and the music down at Zeeland Street. A $10 donation will get you a beer and the music."
The run/walk fundraiser will take place on Aug. 29 at 5:30 p.m. Participants can either go two or four miles. People are encouraged to donate to the fundraiser as well. Donations can be either in-person at the event or by mail to Zeeland Market or Phares. For more information, check this link.
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