An area company specializing in industrial plastic drainage recently donated over $100,000 to cancer research to the Simmons Cancer Institute at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.
Known as “Drain for the Cure,” Springfield Plastics based in Auburn started the annual fundraiser after cancer started hitting way to close to home to the family-owned business.
Engineering Manager Doug Baker says the fundraiser started in 2014 when his daughter was diagnosed with terminal cancer: “We started 7 years ago, and it actually started in 2014. My daughter was actually diagnosed with breast cancer, and at the time, she was diagnosed terminal. We lost her 2 years later, but in the throes of that, decided that we would try to raise money for cancer research. Then, in the interim, we’ve had 4 or 5 actual employees that have faced some type of cancer. Then, we’ve had customers and just other relationships [be affected]. So, this has come to be kind of a company-wide, community-wide effort to support cancer research. We donated a $112,000 check to the Simmons Cancer Institute just a few weeks ago, and we have raised over a half million dollars for cancer research for the last 7 years.”
Baker personally presented the check to the Simmons Institute earlier this month. Baker says he’s really proud of not just his company but the local community stepping up to donate and volunteer for the fundraiser over the last seven years.