Open house celebrates DeSoto Hope

Photo: Tracy Gallagher of DeSoto Hope cuts the ribbon on the new location for the community cancer support effort in Southaven on Thursday, Nov. 9 (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)

An open house and ribbon cutting for the new location of DeSoto Hope was held Thursday, Nov. 9. The community cancer support effort strives to make sure no one feels alone while they are undergoing cancer treatment in DeSoto County. 

The new location at 399 Southcrest Ct., across from Baptist Memorial Hospital, provides more space to be able to produce the Hope Baskets that are requested for cancer patients beginning their treatment. Many have said the Hope Baskets, containing items and encouragement as patients undergo their battle, have been appreciated and considered a “blessing” to them in their fight.  

Tracy Gallagher and Ashleigh Parker of DeSoto Hope said Thursday they had made more than 1,300 Hope Baskets since starting in January of 2020, and about 500 of that number have come since January of this year.  

Two major fundraisers are held each year for the non-profit DeSoto Hope, Light Up the Lake, which is held in March of each year, where cancer survivors and cancer fighters no longer with us are remembered with luminaries that surround the lake at Central Park in Southaven. 

The other, a Night of Hope, is a fundraiser dinner that spotlights DeSoto Hope and what it has meant to cancer patients and their families. 

Parker and Gallagher said the new location provides a larger and more central space for DeSoto Hope and also provides convenience with its location across from Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto and the Baptist Cancer Center-DeSoto in Southaven.  

For more information, visit the DeSoto Hope website.