By Julie Hill Lehr
Contributor

Each fall, you can find Cindy Jennings and her organization, Grundy County Breast Cancer Support Group, working to make sure citizens know about breast cancer. This fall, the group has organized a number of “Pink Out” sports events in coordination with Trenton Middle School and Trenton High School that remind people about October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They also do “Pink Out” events with Laredo R-7, Grundy R-5 and Pleasant View R-6 schools.

Hy-Vee sponsors an annual cookout to raise funds for the group. This year, the cookout will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, in the Hy-Vee parking lot. Deliveries can be made to local businesses and schools only. Tables and chairs will be set up at the cookout for those wanting to eat there.

Founding of support group

Jennings and her friend, Ruby Walker, organized the support group in 2018 after surviving their own breast cancers. The goal was to provide support for others fighting in Grundy County.

“I told Ruby if we could just give women maybe a book and $50 it would be a huge help to them for gas money,” she said. “We had no means to raise money until, one day, Tom Stanturf from People’s Coop contacted me and said he would like to hold a cookout at the gas station and all the proceeds would go to our group. His daughter, Maggie, had breast cancer and it was his way of helping us out.”

Jennings said donations kept coming in throughout that year and in the next few years. Along with the annual cookout funds, those donations allowed the group to provide women with additional money, books, back scratchers, socks and other helpful items for those dealing with breast cancer.

In 2022, Stanturf encouraged Jennings to apply for the Hometown Pride Award through the People’s Coop. Walker and Jennings put together an application and were awarded $5,000.

When Walker moved to Bethany, Lynda Lynch took her place to help Jennings lead the group. The group held four “Pink Out” events in September and will hold three more in October. The sporting events see teams wearing pink in honor of breast cancer awareness and help raise funds. Coming games are: Oct. 5 at Trenton High School girls volleyball; Oct. 6 at Trenton High School girls softball; and Oct. 9 at Trenton High School football.

“We are now able to give above and beyond what we ever dreamed of. Last year, we gave out $7,400, and this year so far $5,800, for a total of approximately $42,000 since we formed our group,” Jennings said.

The group has helped around 66 women in Grundy County since inception.

Jennings cancer journey

In 2012, Jennings was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma breast cancer. While she was deciding how to proceed, a fortunate event happened. She met Marci Bailey, the head of chemo and radiation at the University of Kansas, during a sporting event with her daughter, Hadley.

Jennings ended up having a double mastectomy. A week later, she had surgery again to remove her lymph nodes, and they came back clear.

“I truly believe God put Hadley with this girl that day in Columbia,” Cindy said. “Had she not been paired with her I would have never ended up at the University of Kansas and my breast cancer journey could have turned out a whole lot different.”

Other community efforts

The breast cancer group is not the only thing Jennings has done for the community. She also helped with the development of the Five Points Alive Group.

As part of that group, she started the Downtown Christmas Parade in 2017. The parade began with just decorated golf carts. Both the entries and the route have gotten bigger since the parade first started.

“It’s become one of my favorite events in Trenton,” Jennings said.

The Five Points Alive Group also periodically holds special dinners at The Space in downtown Trenton. These fundraisers help raise money for Christmas lights that brighten downtown businesses.

When Jennings isn’t working on behalf of the community, the Moulton, Iowa, native works part time at Barnes Greenhouses. She loves gardening, selling produce and baked goods at the local farmers market, playing the piano, singing in the Easter choir and spending time with her family.

Cindy and her husband, Dave, a retired pharmacist, have two grown children.

Jennings and her husband Dave Jennings enjoy attending their grandchildren’s activities in Trenton and Ankeny. Cindy has always been a sports enthusiast. She said she learned some of her most important lessons playing on the girls’ softball team in high school. Her coach, Dick Rasmussen, taught his team how to win and never give up.

“If we did lose, he taught us how to shake hands and be good sports and expect a grueling practice the next day,” Cindy said.

Cindy feels that throughout her life she has been called to help others.

“If you see a need where you know you can help someone or improve a situation, don’t pass up the opportunity,” she said. “I am a firm believer that God brings situations and people into our lives. As a Christian, when God convicts me to do something, I need to do it.”