Chesapeake, Va. - NewsChannel 3 honored a local cancer survivor who is helping others in their battle with this potentially deadly disease.
Kurt Williams showed up unannounced at one of her support group meetings to surprise her with a People Taking Action award.
Not long after walking into the Chesapeake catering business, which was the site for the meeting of Zelda Brown's breast cancer support group, For A Virtuous Woman, we went in search of Zelda and she didn't know what to think.
As the tears begin to fall, we explained to Zelda--a breast cancer survivor herself-- it was a member, Barbara Gray who sent in an email about her.
We had Barbara read a portion of that email.
"She will be cancer free May 3 for 15 years. She has made it her mission to help women that have been diagnosed with cancer."
Zelda organizes fundraisers to help women pay for mammograms when insurance won't cover it.
At her monthly support group gatherings, there's a heavy dose of encouragement and celebrating. Barbara Gray says when she was hit with her diagnosis, it was so important to have someone like Zelda in her corner.
"It means a lot, you're not alone, because sometimes there are people you can talk to and some you can't, and having somebody who's been through it, knows how you feel."
In addition to receiving a People Taking Action award, we also presented her with a $300 Visa gift card from our community partner Southern Bank. Zelda was genuinely touched.
"It's just good to know people care that much about you and appreciate what you do. It just makes me feel good to know that I'm here for someone."
