Brooke Mendenhall
Moccasin Bend Brewing Company is hosting a fundraiser Friday with live music and silent auction for Brooke Mendenhall, a single mom and Chattanooga Rollergirl who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer just before Christmas. MBBC will also release the first in a series of Brickhouse Brews, the # 77 Cherry Bomb cider and all the sales from it will benefit Ms. Mendenhall as well.
There is an $8 cover and the doors open at 6 p.m. at MBBC’s new location at 3210 Broad St., Suite B. All proceeds from the cover charge, silent auction and sales from the Cherry Bomb Cider go directly to Ms. Mendenhall and her medical bills. Main Line Ink, Mt. Top Toys, Lodge Cast Iron, Four Bridges Outfitters, Party Girls Dance and Fitness Studio, Niedlovs Breadworks and Chattanooga Girls Rock are just a few of the contributors to the silent auction.
Diagnosed four days before Christmas with Triple Negative Breast Cancer, Ms. Mendenhall started chemotherapy treatment at the end of December. Initially, as she just began playing in 2016 with the Chattanooga Rollergirls as Malice in Wonderlust #77, she thought she simply injured herself during a roller derby scrimmage when she developed tenderness underneath her right arm. She went to a chiropractor who did some adjustments and the swelling went down. It was then she discovered a lump under her arm. After a mammogram and multiple ultrasounds, another lump was found in her breast. Ms. Mendenhall wasted no time and found a local oncologist on Dec. 28, she had a port placed on Dec. 29 and began chemotherapy on Dec. 30. Ms. Mendenhall has a mastectomy scheduled for April.
She is raising two teenagers while trying to maintain a full-time job.
Ms. Mendenhall also has a donation page at https://www.gofundme.com/brooke-mendenhall
Brooke Mendenhall on right