Cancer-stricken woman scrambles to donate money
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MOUNT VERNON, Wash. - A Mount Vernon woman is giving away her life savings - she's already donated hundreds of thousands of dollars and says she's not done.
In the process, she is leaving a memorable footprint on her community.
Her name is Sonya Beard, and for 15 years she has been battling oral cancer. Finally she told her doctors - no more.
"They suggested that I have radiation therapy, and I tried that and - believe me - there's no way I can handle it," she says.
But Sonya wasn't about to leave this world without leaving a legacy.
"I started thinking. I do my best thinking at 3 o'clock in the morning. And I started thinking, 'What can I do to maybe make a small mark in my community?'"
She looked at her savings, thought about what she loves most - and that's reading. So Sonya donated $500,000 to the Mount Vernon City Library - and she isn't stopping there.
"And people gasped - or I got goose bumps up and down my spine. Some people cried - I mean it was incredible," says Linda Allen of the Mount Vernon library.
The library sent Sonya flowers, but she looks at them as more than just a beautiful centerpiece. She sees it as her message getting out.
"I'm not a wealthy person, I'm not a famous person - but I feel like if I can stimulate one person to get the ball rolling then we can make a difference," she says.
Sonya says she isn't afraid of dying. She's more afraid she'll run out of time to get all of her good deeds done. This chapter in her life isn't over.
Sonya also donated $165,000 to Skagit Valley Hospital for hyperbaric oxygen therapy equipment used to treat cancer and other diseases. She also paid off the mortgage at Bethany Covenant Church.
And while she battles oral cancer - she's also an eight-year survivor of breast cancer.
In the process, she is leaving a memorable footprint on her community.
Her name is Sonya Beard, and for 15 years she has been battling oral cancer. Finally she told her doctors - no more.
"They suggested that I have radiation therapy, and I tried that and - believe me - there's no way I can handle it," she says.
But Sonya wasn't about to leave this world without leaving a legacy.
"I started thinking. I do my best thinking at 3 o'clock in the morning. And I started thinking, 'What can I do to maybe make a small mark in my community?'"
She looked at her savings, thought about what she loves most - and that's reading. So Sonya donated $500,000 to the Mount Vernon City Library - and she isn't stopping there.
"And people gasped - or I got goose bumps up and down my spine. Some people cried - I mean it was incredible," says Linda Allen of the Mount Vernon library.
The library sent Sonya flowers, but she looks at them as more than just a beautiful centerpiece. She sees it as her message getting out.
"I'm not a wealthy person, I'm not a famous person - but I feel like if I can stimulate one person to get the ball rolling then we can make a difference," she says.
Sonya says she isn't afraid of dying. She's more afraid she'll run out of time to get all of her good deeds done. This chapter in her life isn't over.
Sonya also donated $165,000 to Skagit Valley Hospital for hyperbaric oxygen therapy equipment used to treat cancer and other diseases. She also paid off the mortgage at Bethany Covenant Church.
And while she battles oral cancer - she's also an eight-year survivor of breast cancer.
