The 33rd annual Cowtown Ball raised $850,000 for the American Cancer Society, $20,000 above its goal, with Kaitlin Butts headlining the Western-themed gala at Simmons Bank Pavilion at Dickies Arena. Nearly 400 people attended, CultureMap Fort Worth reported. The event’s patient-access focus is especially clear in its Paddle Raise: Cowtown says those proceeds support the American Cancer Society’s Access to Care program, which provides transportation and lodging grants to Texas patients.
Access is a local concern, but the available measures have limits
A community health assessment offers one broad measure of transportation access in the region. The Fort Worth Report said 11% of Tarrant County adults and 8% of Parker County adults reported lacking transportation access. Those figures are not specific to people with cancer or trips to treatment, so they do not establish how many patients need help getting to care.
Existing transit services also have defined eligibility and boundaries. Trinity Metro says its On-Demand Paratransit serves people with a verified disability that prevents them from riding regular city bus service, and operates within Fort Worth and River Oaks. It should not be assumed to be available to every cancer patient who needs a ride.
Lodging support and the wider Texas picture
For patients who need to stay near treatment, the American Cancer Society’s Gene and Jerry Jones Family Hope Lodge in Dallas opened in 2021 and has 50 guest rooms near area treatment centers, according to the American Cancer Society. That facility provides a North Texas example of lodging support; the available event reporting does not say how much of the gala’s fundraising will go to lodging, transportation or individual services.
The statewide context is also uneven. The Texas Cancer Plan reports a higher cancer mortality burden in rural and non-metropolitan counties than in urban and metropolitan counties. That comparison describes a difference in cancer mortality; it does not measure travel or lodging barriers, explain the causes of the disparity, or show the effect of Cowtown Ball funding.
