Be With Beth benefit to help woman battling cancer
Published 9:38 am Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Friends will come together to benefit a woman battling cancer on Saturday.
Hwy. 55 restaurant near Walmart in Albemarle will host a benefit to support Elizabeth Abbott-Snavely.
More than 70 people have committed to going, according to the Be with Beth Benefit Facebook page, and 81 people have shared the page.
A motorcycle ride will leave Hwy. 55 at 5 p.m. and be back by 6 p.m. for music and a raffle. The benefit will last until 9 p.m.
A portion of the dinner and raffle proceeds will be given to Abbot-Snavely’s family. Raffle tickets are $1 and can be bought before the benefit at Stanly Insurance Services in Albemarle.
Abbott-Snavely was a former guardian ad litem for children who were taken from their home in foster care.
“It’s a wonderful feeling, but it’s pretty humbling though,” said Abbott-Snavely, who added that she found out about the benefit through Facebook.
She said it’s a nice feeling to have people —many of them strangers — come together in support of her.
Originally from Connecticut, Abbott-Snavely has lived in Albemarle for about 15 years. She is retired from the N.C. prison system, where she was the assistant superintendent.
She married firefighter Capt. Jimmy Snavely last year.
She thought she was just having “some stomach issues” about three weeks ago when she went to her local gastroenterologist for an endoscopy.
Her doctor revealed she had stomach cancer.
The cancer later spread to her liver. Her stomach cancer is stage 4 and it’s inoperable.
Her doctor informed her that her life expectancy, with chemotherapy, is roughly three to four months.
This came as a shock to Abbott-Snavely because besides a few broken bones, “I’ve never had anything wrong with me…perfectly healthy.”
She receives chemo every other week at Albemarle’s Levine Cancer Institute, which lasts about six hours.
Abbott-Snavely is homebound and on a feeding tube, but she enjoys getting out of the house with her husband when she has the energy.
She plans on being present for the benefit.
“I’m super appreciative of everybody and everything that everyone is doing,” she said.