We have the lucky opportunity to partner with the non-profit organization, Breast Cancer Angels. We’ve been able to find some generous charities that support multiple aspects of the battle against cancer. The Mission of Breast Cancer Angels is to provide financial and emotional assistance people and their families as they are going through treatment for breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Angels does NOT raise money for a cure, or even awareness of the disease itself. However, BCA focuses on are raising awareness of the *financial impact* a disease like breast cancer can have on a household. Very few people are financially prepared for the costs of breast cancer at that stage in life.
BCA began when at 52, the founder of BCA, Faye Dietiker got stage 4 breast cancer herself. Faye was blessed to have an amazing family, great insurance, and an amazing doctor. But she was struck by how many young women were in the chemo lab with her. She heard their stories about their husbands leaving them after diagnosis (the divorce rate is about 50% after diagnosis), people losing their homes, their whole lives. One story that really gets me is the one about Faye’s own nurse being in treatment as she was working, giving treatment to other women in the lab. That poor woman passed away. So sad! Anyway, after her fight, she and 6 of her other friends decided to kick in $20 a month to help another friend of theirs who was in treatment. She was a realtor who lost all of her money because she was unable to work. That was 14 years ago, and now we are helping 112 families on average every month, but last month we helped 125 homes, with a total of 133 kids.
Services:
- Food Program
- Housing Needs
- Clothing
- Medical Co-pays
- Transportation
- Scholarship funds
- and more…
Personal Message from Breast Cancer Angels:
We are SO excited to be part of the Industry Dance Awards. First of all, this is a big deal for us, because our marketing is word-of-mouth or social media (and that is only recent). Also, ultimately dance is a celebration of the body. When you work with people who are in treatment every day, the body and spirit can develop an almost adversarial relationship. Being part of the Dance Industry Awards reminds the breast cancer community at-large what we are fighting to “get back” for the people who have been hurt by breast cancer—a positive and powerful relationship with yourself, and your body. SO fun!
Learn more about this generous organization here. http://www.breastcancerangels.org