GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Grand Rapids pub owner has raised thousands in her effort to encourage women to get mammograms and fight breast cancer.
The ‘Save the Rack’ event was started by Bud & Stanley’s Pub & Grub owner Laurie Kelbel, who was once diagnosed with breast cancer during the pandemic.
“I was due for a mammogram but because of COVID, I was six months behind,” Kelbel explained. “So when the restrictions lifted, I went in for my regular mammogram and that's when I got diagnosed.”
Through with the means of a double mastectomy from her surgeon Dr. Colleen App at the Breast Health and Wellness Center, Kelbel was able to beat her cancer.
“I didn't have a choice,” she said. “I had two different kinds of breast cancer. And I was very, very blessed that I was able to fight it. I'm a survivor.”
Staff, alongside a collection of Kelbel’s friends and family, donated their day and tip earnings to the wellness center.
“It's a big deal,” said Bud & Stanley’s server and supervisor Lisa Harlow, who said she lost both of her parents from different types of cancer. “This is our way to help support her and help the community and customers kind of fit into that too or you know, they a lot of them we see at least once a week if not every day, so it's nice.”
Though the pub welcomed numerous regulars, there were also first-timers like Geoff Brown with City2Shore Real Estate that made a point to visit specifically for the cause.
“The owners of button Stanley's -- I heard what they were doing,” Brown said. “Breast cancer has affected people in my family, people that I love and care for and I know this is a big deal. So, I wanted to be able to come here represent my business and my friends and family that have been affected and help out.”
Kelbel, thanking her staff, family and friends, hopes that her fellow women consider getting regular mammograms.
“I know six women that went and got a mammogram because I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” she said. “I feel that I'm making a difference I feel because I have a voice and I have a platform because of the restaurant that that's what it's about -- it's about bringing awareness and talking about it and it's nothing to be embarrassed about it's nothing to shy away from it's we should be talking about.”
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