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Lancaster, PA—Bev Doughty isn't your typical sales associate. Employed at Brent L. Miller Jewelers, Doughty is a cancer survivor and passionate about doing whatever she can to help those with the same diagnosis.

"I wanted to do something," said Doughty. "And June 1 is national Cancer Survivor Day." Inspired by the date, Doughty decided earlier this spring to donate 75% of her commissions for May and June to the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute at Lancaster General Hospital.

Doughty wasn't always a jewelry sales associate. "Actually, I was a medical transcriptionist for 30 years. To supplement my income, I became a distributor of Premier Jewelry. I had ten jewelers as clients and was quite successful for six years until the economy came into play." As the economy grew worse, Doughty began working for Brent L. Miller Jewelers part-time, along with her transcribing job. Eventually her transcribing job replaced her with a voice-recognition system.

"I never thought I'd be out of a job that was medical based," she said. She left jewelry and found full time work as the assistant retail manager for the Strasburg Railroad, an old-fashioned steam engine railroad attraction that offers visitors a 45-minute ride through scenic Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Then Doughty was diagnosed with stage three uterine and ovarian cancer. Ironically, she said, she’d typed out the exact same symptoms many times during her years in medical transcription, but she didn’t pay attention to her own symptoms. Luckily, because the cancer hadn’t spread to her lymph nodes or muscles, she didn’t have to undergo chemotherapy with its devastating effects—but the heavy course of radiation she did have wasn’t a picnic, either.

“It [the Strasburg Railroad] was a great fit for two years before the cancer. The cancer took a big toll. With the radioactive effects on my stomach, it was hard to keep that job; it was very physically demanding. Once the winter was past, I was praying for an answer. Jo and Ryan (Miller, mother and son, owners of Brent L. Miller Jewelers) were so kind to offer me a full time job here."

Doughty decided to use her experience to help others, thus driving her decision to donate 75% of her commissions during May and June. May was a bit slow (Story here from the Lancaster newspaper), but June has turned out a bit better.

"We didn't advertise this until June. May was just word of mouth." 

So, how is it going? The Centurion caught up with Doughty at the end of June to find out.

"It's been awesome," says Doughty excitedly. "I've been so taken back by the support from the community, the customers and the owners here. Jo and Ryan said they wanted to match my donation. Some of my coworkers did as well. And we had some donations from people who didn't want to buy but wanted to contribute. We also had a guy who left pieces for us to sell and donate the money. It's been overwhelming."

Doughty said the total from May was about $250 ($500 with her employers’ matching donation).  For June, Doughty says it's about $1,200 on her end, so far; a few custom jobs still have not been completed that will affect her totals. She's expecting to donate at least $2,500, with the matching funds and donations.

It's not hard to see how Doughty could bring in both commissions and donations, still do her job and help her customers. She's enthused about her donations and loves jewelry. Her family life is busy. Doughty and her husband have just finished putting triplets through college and her older daughter is a teacher. However there's one thing all the women have in common: "We all love jewelry," says Doughty.