Before 2023, a family in Beaumont facing a child's cancer diagnosis had nowhere built specifically for them, no local organization whose whole purpose was standing beside Southeast Texas families through that particular fight. Roni and Kirk Gillespie decided that gap shouldn't exist anymore, and started Go 4 The Bell.

It is still, three years later, the only 501(c)(3) pediatric cancer organization between New Orleans and Houston. The mission is direct: help local families cover what a cancer diagnosis actually costs beyond treatment itself, gas money for the drive to appointments, hotel stays during extended stints near a hospital, the everyday essentials that don't stop needing to be paid for just because a family's whole world has narrowed to one child's diagnosis. The organization's name comes from the bell many hospitals let patients ring when treatment ends, the moment every family in this fight is working toward.

The first gala in 2024 raised more than $450,000, entirely staying local. The third annual gala returns to the Beaumont Civic Center on September 19, with proceeds again going directly to Southeast Texas families.

What is easy to miss in a gala announcement is the actual shape of the problem it answers. A region between two major cities went without a resource like this until two people who live here decided that was worth fixing themselves, rather than waiting for a bigger city's organization to eventually notice the gap.