A Coincidental Week

Co-in-ci-den-tal (adjective): happening or existing at the same time. This is one of my daughter's vocabulary words. I am not sure if it's coincidence, but I believe good thoughts have the power to affect reality.

Last week I wrote about how important it is to reach out and help a woman going through breast cancer and some things you can do to help. Coincidentally, I also volunteered my services at an event called Lunch on the Lawn, a fundraiser for the Patient Assistance Program at the Piper Breast Center at Abbot Northwest hospital.

I didn't know anything about the program, I just knew it was a fundraiser for breast cancer, and I had just talked about doing what you can to help out someone in need, especially if the results have an immediate impact.

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The event was hosted by WCCO news anchor Amelia Santaniello, who is a fantastic speaker. Sara Rogers, style expert at the Mall of America, led a fall trend seminar with models styled by Gwen Leeds. And I created a beautiful glam/goth look for the runway show (see my Glam side of Goth post for the how-to). Needless to say, the event was a hit! As a matter of fact, it was standing room only. The unfortunate thing: I was backstage and wasn't able to hear all the speeches from women like Carol Bergen, the clinical manager of the Piper Breast Center.

So I decided to do a little follow-up and called Carol to find out about the Patient Assistance Program, and who it is helping. Here is what I learned: The program was established by the Piper Breast Center, Hope Chest for Breast Cancer, and the Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation to provide emergency assistance for breast cancer patients who have a financial need.

Can you imagine being diagnosed with breast cancer and worrying about having enough gas money to get to your next chemo treatment? Or wondering how you are going to put food on the table for your kids? These are the kinds of immediate expenses the fund provides for cancer patients who are dealing with financial difficulty. According to Carol, the fulfillment of these needs can be very empowering to a patient and gives them a much-needed lift during a difficult time.

Doing something good with immediate gratification for someone in need...that’s what I call  “wearing your pink on your sleeve!” 

To donate, go to donate.allina.com and designate your gift to "Breast Cancer Patient Assistance."

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