(WXYZ) - Many families are facing financial strain these days. Imagine battling breast cancer at the same time. It’s a crisis some local women know about all too well.
Those women have formed “The Pink Fund” to help.
Molly MacDonald was in between jobs when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in April of 2005. She's a wife and mother of five from Beverly Hills, Michigan.
With a $1200 a month COBRA payment, her home went into foreclosure within four months after her diagnosis.
Even with help from her church, friends, and family, she eventually had to turn to a food bank in order to feed her family.
“It was a very humbling experience,” MacDonald explains.
Now she is helping other women who are going through a similar crisis.
She is President and Co-Founder of "The Pink Fund."
The non-profit organization provides short-term financial aid during active breast cancer treatment and recovery.
“We’ve made rent payments. We’ve made car payments. We’ve made car insurance payments. We’ve made COBRA payments to maintain that health insurance,” says MacDonald.
The Pink Fund’s volunteers sift through request letters every month. Social workers make recommendations, and patients include letters explaining their predicament.
The organization’s motto is “Help for Today; Hope for Tomorrow.”
Once a patient is deemed eligible, financial assistance is provided for three to six months.
All payments are made directly to the creditors or companies issuing the bills.
The Pink Fund’s Director Sue Golinske says being a breast cancer survivor herself has helped her empathize with breast cancer patients needing assistance.
“These women are dealing with this illness. And at the same time, they have the stress of wondering how they are going to make the bills,” says Golinske.
“It’s hard to pick up the phone and call for help,” adds Emily Ewing – another Pink Fund volunteer.
For those who are interested in learning more about The Pink Fund or would like to make a donation, you may visit their website:
www.thepinkfund.org MacDonald says donations received from other states outside of Michigan will benefit breast cancer patients in those states.
Molly MacDonald says the organization has helped about a dozen women since she and some of her friends incorporated the group in 2006.
“There’s nothing like helping another human being in crisis,” says MacDonald holding up an e-mail from one patient The Pink Fund helped.
“This one is from a young woman who is 33-years-old. She writes, ‘Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me. I thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I am crying happy tears for the first time in months’”
