Obligated to give back

Lindsay Sandham

Bobbitt Williams began volunteering with the American Cancer Society

22 years ago and hasn’t been able to stop.

“Once I got involved, I stayed involved,” said the Newport Coast

resident.

Williams, a retired teacher from Huntington Beach High School,

decided to volunteer her time to the nonprofit group after losing her

brother to lung cancer.

Fundraising is her specialty, along with giving people the

opportunity to donate. Her two favorite words: “opportunity” and

“yes.”

“Because I believe in it so strongly myself, and because my

husband and I do donate to the American Cancer Society,” she said.

“If you’re ever going to ask anybody for a donation to something, you

really have to believe in it yourself, and you really have to donate

yourself first.”

For all of her hard work and fundraising efforts, Williams

received the St. George National Award of the society’s California

division on March 17. The award is given to a volunteer who has made

significant contributions over an extended period of time.

With so many different organizations raising money for cancer

research and services, Williams decided to focus her efforts on the

American Cancer Society because she said she thinks they do an

outstanding job with their research.

“The money that’s brought in is spent on research; it’s spent on

patient services; and it’s spent on education,” she said. “They have

a lot of programs that go out to the schools, they are doing a lot of

programs in the Hispanic community, and all of these things take

money.”

Jennifer Horspool, director of marketing communications for the

society’s Orange County chapter, said Williams has been the top

fundraiser for many years and has probably brought millions of

dollars into the organization in her 22 years of volunteer work.

“She is one of the most dynamic people I have ever met,” Horspool

said. “She has a very loving spirit about her. She really gets people

engaged, and she knows how to bring people in.”

Even if someone doesn’t have a personal connection to cancer,

Williams makes them want to fight cancer just the same, Horspool

said.

Williams introduced the annual Cattle Baron’s Ball to Orange

County in 1999. She co-chaired the first ball and has been an

integral part in fundraising and organizing the charitable event

every year since.

The ball, an American Cancer Society event that started in Dallas,

raises hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for cancer

research and patient services.

“Our goal is to raise over half a million dollars net,” Williams

said of the ball, which will be held in October this year.

One of the many reasons Williams continues to work so hard, even

though she retired many years ago, is because she loves to work, she

said. And she continues to believe that down the road, a cure for

cancer will be found and that the money she helped raise will have

played a small part.

“If you’ve been fortunate in life, you have an obligation to give

back,” she said. “I’m probably one of the luckiest ladies you’ll ever

meet. I’ve really been blessed with so many opportunities to do

things like this.”

Williams said she will continue to raise money and volunteer her

time to the society as long as she is physically and mentally able.

“There’s contributions you can make at all levels -- you don’t

have to be the chair to make contributions,” she said. “There’s a

need for people who are doing one small part, because every single

part is important. It’s like the proverbial spokes in the wheel --

one spoke by itself doesn’t look like much, but you put them all

together, and they make it work.”

Anyone interested in volunteering for the American Cancer Society,

or making a donation, can contact Williams at (949) 644-6799.