Concord High School had more than a boys basketball game versus Mount Pleasant High School take place there on Friday night.
Just before tip-off, Nancy Patterson, a social studies teacher at Concord High, received a surprise $2,000 donation from the Vickie S. Honeycutt Foundation.
“It was totally amazing,” Patterson said. “I did not know what to expect. It was a really important night. It is something to be grateful for, and I am.”
The Vickie S. Honeycutt Foundation was created in memory of the late teacher, who taught at Mount Pleasant High for 32 years and served as the assistant director of human resources for Cabarrus County Schools.
Honeycutt died in March 2010 from complications related to breast cancer, and the group created in her memory is dedicated to providing assistance to teachers or their immediate family members who are battling cancer so that their sole focus can be on recovery, according to the group’s website.
Last year, the group provided five local families with financial assistance, and this donation was the first for 2012, said Adam White, president and co-founder of the group.
“We thought this would be a great way to start off the year strong,” White said.
Patterson is currently battling ovarian cancer. She is in her 32nd year of teaching and has been at Concord High for about 19 years.
When Concord High Principal Carla Black heard Patterson would receive a donation, she said she could not think of a more deserving person.
She said that not only is Patterson a teacher who can relate to every kind of learner and make the school feel like a home, she has also been like a hero to those at the school. Patterson has continued to teach and has a good attitude as she is going through her second round of chemotherapy, Black said.
“She always continues to have a smile on her face,” Black said. “Her class really looks to her as an inspiration.”
The foundation decided to give her the donation at the Concord and Mount Pleasant game on Friday because Patterson is a teacher at Concord, and Honeycutt taught at Mount Pleasant, White said.
“It seemed like a great night and a great person to make a donation to,” White said. “All things came together kind of perfectly.”
Patterson knew there was a night in honor of her, but she did not know about the donation. She said that she had met Honeycutt several times and that it meant a lot that the donation came from an organization created in honor of Honeycutt.
“I told her son his mother was really an inspiration for us in the field and for us who are battling cancer, so it meant a great deal,” Patterson said.
The financial assistance from the group is meant to help with anything needed as the teachers or their family members treat the disease, White said.
Patterson said she has a lot of medical bills and related expenses, so she plans to put the donation toward paying for those.
“That will definitely come in handy,” Patterson said. “I’ve been fighting this for four years, and it’s not cheap. ... The donation meant a great deal to us, and we can certainly use it. I am very appreciative.”
Contact reporter Jessica Groover: 704-789-9152
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