(Photo courtesy of Assistance League of Bend)
Assistance League of Bend has participated in the annual Heaven Can Wait 5K Walk/Run since 2014. The event brings hundreds of community members together with a shared mission to raise funds for Sara’s Project, a fund of the St. Charles Foundation. Sara’s Project provides education, early detection and support services to help ease the challenges of breast cancer for people throughout Central and Eastern Oregon.
This year’s Heaven Can Wait will be held Sunday, October 4, 2026, at the Redmond High School football stadium. From 8:30am-12pm, Assistance League volunteers will distribute handmade hats to cancer patients and survivors, including cozy, colorful knitted beanies, sewn sleep caps, fleece hats and cotton sunhats. Volunteers will also provide other comfort items, including “Knitted Knockers” breast prostheses, comfort shawls and lavender pillows. All items are provided free of charge.
Since its inception in 1997, Assistance League of Bend’s Hats & More program has provided thousands of handmade hats and other comfort items to patients and community members through the infusion center at St. Charles Cancer Center, Summit Health, Partners In Care, Ronald McDonald House, Deschutes County Public Health Department and the annual Heaven Can Wait event.
For people undergoing cancer treatment, these handmade items offer more than physical warmth. They provide emotional comfort and a tangible reminder that their community cares.
One cancer patient who received a handmade hat described the experience simply: “It’s like getting a hug; you feel warm and you feel loved.”
To learn more or get involved with the Hats & More program, email philanthropy@assistanceleaguebend.org or call 541-389-2075.
AssistanceLeagueBend.org
