Nonprofit raising money to help locals who struggle to access treatment
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Taking some pain out of chemo
10/23/2009 - 10/3/09
The room is sunny with bright yellow walls and big, puffy microfiber reclining chairs. It's unlike any other chemotherapy room that Natalie Cunningham has ever seen. It certainly is more cheery than the drab, green room without windows where she received treatment several years ago in Florida.Cunningham, the president of the Cancer Institute Foundation, is working to make the experiences that cancer patients have in this room positive. She and her team are working to make sure that the many out-of-town patients treated in this room aren't worried about how they're going to pay for gas, or long hotel stays or food while in Santa Fe. The goal is to have patients focused on healing.
The staff at the nonprofit are working to match a $50,000 challenge grant given to the Cancer Institute Foundation by the family of the late Suzanne Pettit. The CIF has until the end of 2009 to match that amount and has announced the challenge now in October because it is Breast Cancer Awareness month.
"I think the thing that makes us a compelling place to donate and a place to volunteer is that cancer touches everybody," Cunningham said. "There is hardly anyone on the planet that isn't touched by cancer."
Another benefit to helping the CIF reach their goal is that donations go directly to local people who are struggling to be able to access treatment.
"In this economy, you think of donating money to the arts. All of that is very commendable, but it's not as personal as helping somebody who might not otherwise be able to get the treatment," Cunningham said. "The money we raise goes directly to the patients and to the family. Most importantly it's local — it's not going off to a national organization, it stays here, where it's most needed."
Cunningham cited the example of a man on a fixed income who lives in Raton who was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
"If I live in Raton and I'm on a fixed income, prostate cancer is not my problem, my problem is gas," Cunningham said.
In September, the CIF held an auction that raised approximately $20,000, an amount that includes some unfulfilled pledges. Cunningham said the group has raised just more than half of the target $50,000 due in part to the September fundraiser and in part to an internal fundraiser that happened among the doctors and staff at the Cancer Institute on Zia Road, where the CIF has its offices.
The CIF was started in 2003 to help families from out of town be able to have easier access to treatments. It has grown to be an umbrella organization to approximately 35 volunteers who do everything from clerical work to chat with patients while they're receiving treatment in the chemotherapy room. The foundation is always looking for new volunteers. Cunningham recommends survivors be out of treatment for a year before volunteering.
"It can be a little raw and hard," Cunningham said. "I know that for me — even 12 years later — it's not comfortable for me to work in the chemo room."
Sallie Jackson started volunteering with the CIF about six months ago. Just a few minutes with her in the chemotherapy room and you can already see that she must have the patients laughing whenever she can.
"I just make light of things," Jackson said. "We can sit and talk to them and bring them things like drinks and food. Talking is the main thing because I'm a stranger and it's easier to talk to a stranger and just get some of the stuff off their chest."
Jackson also noted that the patients like to watch movies on portable DVD players — both of which are provided by the CIF. The foundation also purchases drinks and snacks for the patients. Typically, a chemotherapy treatment can last up to five hours, so making that room as cozy as possible is essential, Cunningham said.
"It adds a positive touch," said the foundation's development director Eileen Berry. The other services the foundation offers let the patient focus on healing. "Knowing that they're going to have some funds for their tank of gas when everything else is up in the air in their lives because of their illness (is positive)."
In addition to all of that, the foundation offers support groups for patients, survivors and caregivers at no charge. Recently, it offered free prostate cancer screenings for 310 men — 13 of whom were diagnosed and able to seek treatment.
"Those men think we're very important," Cunningham said. Donations are vital to the organization. "The foundation is totally dependent on the community for support."
Pettit lost her battle with breast cancer when she was only 50, said her younger brother Michael Pettit in a news release. She was in the film-editing business, where she worked with actors such as Shirley MacLain, Sissy Spacek, Kevin Costner and Sandra Bullock.
"Suzanne is still making a difference through the Suzanne Pettit Memorial Fund and the love and dedication of her family," Michael Pettit said in the release. "We have struggled with the grief of her loss, but we are determined to celebrate her life."
Contact Ana Maria Trujillo at 986-3084 or atrujillo@sfnewmexican.com.
DETAILS
• To donate to the Cancer Institute Foundation, visit www.cancerinstitutefoundation.org; or make checks payable to the Cancer Institute Foundation and mail them to P.O. Box 5038, Santa Fe, NM, 87502
• For more information on the Cancer Institute Foundation's services and support groups, visit 955-7901.
