Brenda Mayfield-Anderson, who is fighting breast cancer, spent a special day at Halas Hall this week as the Chicago Bears showed their support for her battle. The visit included a meeting with her favorite player at the team's Lake Forest training facility, according to the outlet that first reported her story.
Details of the visit, including the date, the activities involved and which Bears players or staff took part, were not spelled out in the initial report from FOX 32 Chicago, which broke the news under the headline “Bears honor cancer warrior Brenda Mayfield-Anderson with a special day at Halas Hall.” Still, the gesture fits a pattern the organization has built over years of welcoming cancer patients and survivors into its building.
A Tradition Built Around Halas Hall Visits
Mayfield-Anderson's experience echoes a similar one from 2025, when Volo resident and breast cancer survivor Amy Cash met Bears players at Halas Hall after finishing treatment for stage 2 breast cancer she was diagnosed with in 2024, as reported by CBS News Chicago. Cash completed 25 rounds of radiation as part of her treatment plan before the team celebrated her at the facility, the station's report notes.
According to the Lake & McHenry County Scanner, that event was a VIP experience arranged through a partnership between Advocate Health Care and the Bears. Quarterback Caleb Williams presented Cash with a practice jersey featuring a pink Advocate Health Care patch after practice, per the same account.
Bears Care's Long-Running Commitment
Bears Care's Long-Running Commitment The team's outreach to cancer patients goes back further than any single visit. Bears Care, the franchise's charitable arm, was established as a fund of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation in 1995 and became its own 501(c)(3) organization in 2005, according to the Chicago Bears. Bears Care has issued $35 million in grants across all three of its philanthropic pillars, according to the Chicago Bears.
Much of that work flows through the team's Real Bears Fans Wear Pink campaign, which has raised funds for breast cancer patients and their families since 2008, the Chicago Bears report. Bears Care has distributed more than $2.2 million in campaign proceeds directly to neighborhood programs supporting survivors and their loved ones. The team's own materials describe the 2026 Bears Care Gala as generating record-setting revenues for breast and ovarian cancer research and treatment programs in Chicago; the Bears call 2026 the campaign's 19th anniversary, while CBS and Lake & McHenry County Scanner described 2025 as its 18th year.
Survivors Celebrated on the Field and at Luncheons
Halas Hall visits are just one piece of how the Bears mark the cause. In 2022, the team and Bears Care hosted a Season Opener luncheon at the facility for the first time since 2019, drawing more than 60 cancer survivors along with 13 Chicagoland organizations that serve breast cancer patients, families and caregivers, the team reported.
The Bears have also honored survivors during games at Soldier Field. In 2024, ten Advocate Health Care breast cancer patients, along with family members and care teams from across Illinois, were celebrated at the team's annual Crucial Catch game, per the Lake & McHenry County Scanner. For the 2021 game, breast cancer survivors were slated to be recognized, according to Citizen Newspaper Group.
For Mayfield-Anderson, the trip to Halas Hall places her among a growing list of Chicago-area patients and survivors the Bears have chosen to spotlight. No further details about her diagnosis, treatment history or the specifics of her visit have been made public beyond the fact that she is fighting breast cancer and that the team showed its support with a day built around meeting her favorite player.
