Anglers take to the ice to catch fish, find cure for cancer

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death in the United States, a statistic the professionals at the William Guy Forbeck Research Foundation hope to change.

"The Forbeck Foundation runs scientific research meetings," explained Executive Director Jamie Collins. "Scientists who do cancer research come and exchange ideas and collaborate on very specific areas of cancer research."

Saturday, dozens of anglers took to the ice at the Lakewood Golf Club in Lake Geneva to support the foundation and its work by participating in the third annual Fishing for a Cure Ice Jamboree.

"It keeps building every year," Collins said. "The first year was about 25 people and the last year was 125 people. We'd love to see more come out."

Chris Dickinson was joined out on the lake by his young son and his nephew. A physician, he sees the impacts of cancer firsthand at work. Recently, it impacted his own family.

"We've lost several family members to cancer," Chris explained, including his sister-in-law who recently passed away after a two-year battle with breast cancer. "The nice thing about this is that their focus is to support fighting all cancer. Cancer has touched my family closely and it touches probably every family out there. Whether it's today or tomorrow, you don't know, but at some point it's going to impact all of us."

Saturday's event raised funds specifically for meetings the Forbeck Foundation will host discussing graph versus host disease. Collins says the fundraisers play a very important role, especially in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.

"Going through Covid, fundraising's been really difficult for small foundations," Collins said. "It's really important people come out to these events, especially outdoor events where we can all feel a little bit safer, and be able to support good causes."

Along with catch and release ice fishing, the jamboree featured food, beverages and raffles for attendees.

For more information about the Forbeck Foundation, visit the website here.