Fields of Gold is a new wine label dedicated to finding a cure for childhood cancer.

By SARA VANDEN BERGE

I’ve only known Drew Roberson for a couple of years, but in my short time of getting to know him, I can tell you that he is one of the most genuine men you will ever meet.

He is kind, smart and generous to a fault.

And he has suffered unimaginable grief.

Drew lost his son Ryan to Ewing’s Sarcoma in July 2019, nearly a year to the day of that terrible diagnosis.

Today, Drew has turned his grief into activism, using his knowledge of wine to raise money for his greatest passion – finding a cure for childhood cancer.

“Only three percent of research money goes to funding childhood cancer, and in the past 20 years, only one new drug has been approved to treat childhood cancer,” Drew told Beneath the Surface News.

That statistic is particularly alarming when compared to the fact that there are, on average, 12 new drugs approved every year to treat adult forms of cancer.

“We can do better,” Drew said.

Indeed.

RYAN’S PASSION FOR BASEBALL

Ryan was an all-American kid who loved to play baseball. He was a pitcher.

“He was kind and he had good manners,” Drew said. “Ryan wanted to be a lawyer. He had a 4.0 his first year in college while playing baseball and that’s pretty unusual.”

Ryan was studying business and political science while playing baseball at New Mexico Junior College when he was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma in 2018.

“He came home and was complaining that his calf was sore; he was hospitalized and doctors thought he had a blood clot,” Drew said.

Two months later, they discovered that the situation was much worse.

Doctors told the family that Ryan had Ewing’s Sarcoma and it had already spread.

They gave him a slim chance of survival.

He was only 20 years old when he passed.

FIELDS OF GOLD

Time, they say, heals all wound, but that doesn’t necessarily count for parents who lose a child.

My interview with Drew was tough.

Reliving the horror of Ryan’s diagnosis and year of treatment had Drew breaking down and me fighting back tears.

His pain is palpable, but so is his determination to keep Ryan’s memory alive by doing something big to help others.

Fields of Gold is that one big thing.

Drew spent more than a year working with his employer Summerland Wine Brands and others to develop the label and bottle Fields of Gold.

The wine comes in a Cabernet and Chardonnay and sells for $9.99.

But here’s the best part: For every bottle sold, $1 is donated to the Little Warrior Foundation, dedicated to funding and finding a lasting cure for childhood cancer.

The photo of Ryan Roberson used on the Fields of Gold label.

The label, designed in part by Stephenville resident Stephanie Beach, includes a photo of Ryan on the pitcher’s mound.

HEB and Spec's Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods will carry Fields of Gold at select locations.

You can also purchase it in Stephenville at Hearsay Wine Bar and Greer’s Ranch Café.

“I want to see Fields of Gold being sold in every ballpark in the country,” Drew said. “For people to be able to have a glass of Chardonnay and know they are giving back to help find a cure for childhood cancer is a great thing.

“I want to help other parents and children battling Ewing’s Sarcoma. No family should ever have to go through something like this.”

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.