Andy Goodspeed was told he had six to nine months to live when he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2020. On Saturday, he will tell his community to hold onto hope.

MaineGeneral Medical Center’s annual “Day of Hope” event invites cancer survivors, families, friends and community members to the Augusta Civic Center from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. to participate in a 10:30 a.m. cancer walk, attend educational sessions and hear speeches.

The event is expected to draw more than 1,200 people, said Debbie Bowden, administrative director of oncology services at MaineGeneral who has coordinated the walk since 1994.

“The walk has become something very tangible,” Bowden said. “People rally around each other.”

Funds raised from the walk, which has a registration fee of $10 except for children and people with a cancer diagnosis, will go toward improving treatment for local patients and completing expansion of the Harold Alfond Center for Cancer Care, a facility next to the Augusta hospital that will use the increased space for programs, holistic care and support services, Bowden said.

The goal this year is to raise $200,000.

Goodspeed, who will speak Saturday, said he wants to “inspire people to find their own strength, find their own reasons to live.”

The 48-year-old Fairfield man was diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer. He fought through years of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and side effects before treatments began to work.

Goodspeed received his diagnosis at MaineGeneral even though his oncology team was at Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan. A partnership between the hospitals allowed him to receive treatment at both facilities and stay closer to home.

“I think that’s a lot why I survived and why I became a miracle,” Goodspeed said, “simply because I had that team and I had that support throughout my journey that a lot of people just unfortunately don’t have.”

MaineGeneral staff also participate in another walk. In the week leading up to Saturday’s event, staff members walk a cumulative 40 hours outside the center, passing a baton that contains the name of every cancer patient the hospital has treated for nearly two decades.

“There’s thousands of names,” Bowden said.

One name is Crystal Leavitt, a 31-year-old cancer survivor who lives in Oakland. Leavitt was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2024. She received treatment at the Alfond Center, where she said she was supported by staff.

“The people at the center, the nurses, the doctors, the volunteers, the check-in staff — everyone truly hypes you up the entire way,” Leavitt said. “I think it’s important to laugh and smile and have a good time, even through crappy moments.”

Leavitt and Goodspeed will cut the ribbon together before the walk and have exchanged jokes about who will outrace the other.

“Andy doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to run,” Leavitt said.

Goodspeed will walk alongside his oncology team, family, friends and other advocates. He said their support helped him beat cancer.

“When you have that support of an entire community, an entire staff or entire team of doctors behind you, then your chances are much better,” Goodspeed said. “It’s much better when you can walk this journey with other people.”