AUGUSTA -- The Harold Alfond Center for Cancer Care has been given $25,000 by an Olympic gold medallist through a charitable foundation.

Scott Hamilton, a former internationally-ranked figure skater who won a gold medal in the 1984 Winter Olympics, donated the money to the cancer center through The Pioneer Fund, a Colorado-based charity.

The money will be placed in an endowment to help cancer patients pay for gasoline to drive to the Alfond Center for treatments if they live several hours away, or to pay for a co-pay on medication, Dr. Andrew Hertler, the center's medical director, said.

"We are very excited and elated here," Hertler said. He found out about the hefty donation a week ago.