February 2005

Recently, we had a very active volunteer come in and stuff over 75 ‘Friends Like Me’ care packages for newly-diagnosed women. They are here in our office stacked up like dozens of pizza boxes in a pizza shop. That’s the good news. We’re ready to ship one out when we get a call by a friend, a sister, or a daughter about a new diagnosis or a recurrence. 

The bad news is…we got 22 such calls in January alone. That’s at least one for every day we were here in the office. I’m happy that we can provide such a service that might bring a smile to a woman’s face who had to hear the words “you have breast cancer”. And I’m proud to be part of such an organization and a program that is uplifting and encouraging to so many. 

But I wish there were no calls; no stacks of boxes waiting to be mailed out; and no new diagnoses. I wish no one ever had to hear those words again. But wishing will not find a cure for the more than 12,000 women living with the disease in Pennsylvania. 

Only research and unrelenting work in a lab will find a cure. That is why I ask each of you to donate your state income tax refund, no matter how small, to the breast and cervical cancer research fund. Every penny goes directly to cancer researchers in this state and allows them to continue their potentially life-saving work. For more information on the PBCC’s Income Tax Check-Off program, CLICK HERE and watch for the next issue of our newsletter, Frontline, in your mailbox in March. 

In the meantime, please call or email us if you know of someone who could use a pick-me-up or has questions about their journey with breast cancer. That’s what we’re here for. 

Heather Hibshman
Executive Director