When Michele Bailey’s husband Scott was diagnosed with salivary gland cancer in April 2020, the family found themselves navigating not just a rare disease, but also the isolation of pandemic-era treatment protocols.

• Now, more than two years after Scott’s passing in December 2021, Michele has transformed her grief into purpose through the Bailey Brigade, a nonprofit organization helping cancer patients across Walton County.

“Scott had to go through his treatment alone during the pandemic,” Michele said. “We were fortunate that our community was very kind to us. We want to make sure other cancer patients never have to go through treatment alone.”

The organization, founded in 2022 following a successful community fundraiser that gathered $27,000 in less than a week, operates with three primary missions: providing comfort care backpacks, offering copay and transportation assistance, and awarding scholarships to students entering health sciences.

Michele partnered with Dr. Mose S. Hayes III at Ascension Sacred Heart, Scott’s former oncologist, to identify where needs were greatest. They discovered that while breast cancer patients received support items when beginning treatment, others did not. The Bailey Brigade changed that.

• “Now everybody that sits down gets something,” Michele said.

The organization has distributed more than 200 comfort backpacks to patients beginning their cancer treatment at Ascension Sacred Heart’s oncology department off Mack Bayou Road. Each backpack contains carefully curated items for patients: nausea relief products, skin care items donated by a former patient, journals, adult coloring books, and notes of encouragement from local students.

“Those are the things that people really love the most,” Michele said of the handwritten notes and painted kindness rocks created by students from local schools including Emerald Coast Middle School. “They love the notes, to just know that somebody is aware they’re going through something hard.”

The group has expanded its services to include transportation assistance after learning patients sometimes found themselves stranded following treatment. They now provide Uber or Lyft rides when needed.

For Michele and her three sons, the work has become a way to channel their grief while honoring Scott’s memory.

• “It keeps them close to their dad,” Michele said of her sons’ involvement with the nonprofit. “It’s made it easier to talk about when someone brings up his name, to be able to say, ‘Yeah, that was my dad, and we are helping other people.'”

The organization’s latest fundraising effort carries special significance: a limited-edition bourbon that celebrates Scott’s life while generating funds to sustain their mission.

After initial funding from the family’s GoFundMe began diminishing, Michele approached 30A Distilling Co. with the idea of a special bourbon release. Scott had been a bourbon enthusiast, and Michele was already connected with the distillery as a member of their explorer club.

“We went from five of us sitting at my dining room table at the end of June to having a bottle of bourbon in November for sale,” Michele said.

The distillery embraced the concept, having already partnered with a cancer organization at their sister location in Baton Rouge. Michele and a board member traveled to Louisiana to select a barrel personally, then helped with bottling at the local facility.

• The result is a collector-worthy bourbon finished in an orange rum barrel for three weeks, creating a unique flavor profile. Released at cask strength (118 proof), the limited-edition features Scott’s image and story and packaged in a wooden collector’s box through the generosity of their sponsors.

Of the $175 purchase price, $100 goes directly to the Bailey Brigade. Since its November release, timed to coincide with Scott’s birthday, they’ve sold most of the 195 bottles produced from the single barrel, with fewer than three dozen remaining.

The bourbon represents more than a fundraiser to Michele. It’s a physical manifestation of Scott’s legacy.

“It is everything because it’s his legacy. He will never be forgotten,” Michele said. “Through the Brigade, everybody will get to know a piece of Scott. His children will know that their father will always be honored and respected, and his story and the man he was will forever live on.”

For Michele, the foundation’s work focuses on making patients feel seen during an isolating journey. The organization’s tagline, “an army of hope and love,” reflects this mission.

• “We can’t get rid of cancer, unfortunately. God, I wish we could,” Michele said. “But we can make sure somebody knows they’re not alone in this journey and that somebody gives a damn.”

The group has ambitious expansion plans. Michele hopes to eventually offer holistic treatments, cooking classes for patients, caregiver support services, and even a widow’s ministry to assist those who, like her, find themselves navigating life after loss.

“There’s so much we want to do, but right now we’re just trying to get the basics,” Michele said.

Currently limited to serving patients at one oncology office in Walton County, the Bailey Brigade hopes to grow through increased community support. While the bourbon has provided significant funding, Michele emphasizes that monthly subscriptions would better allow for planning and expansion.

“If we could get 50 or 100 people doing $20 a month, that’s a game changer,” she said.

The remaining bourbon bottles can be purchased at 30A Distilling Co, located at 605 North County Highway 393, Building 15-B, or at select farmers markets including Seaside Farmers Market each Saturday. The distillery is open Wednesday through Friday from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 12:30 to 7:30 p.m. With Father’s Day approaching, Michele notes the numbered, limited-edition bottles make unique gifts.

• “It’s a super unique gift for somebody that can be really hard to buy for,” she said. “When they’re gone, you can’t get it again.”

For more information on the Bailey Brigade or to become a monthly donor, visit the organization’s website.

“We’re all one phone call away from an accident or a diagnosis that changes everything,” Michele said. “We all think it’s going to happen to somebody else. He was in the best shape of his life, 54 years old, a healthy, amazing husband with three beautiful boys, and he was stage four when they found it, and 20 months later we buried him.”

Through the Bailey Brigade, the family is ensuring that loss transforms into hope for others facing similar journeys.

“Join the army of hope and love,” Michele said, “and help us take care of people going through the unimaginable.”