CULLMAN – All throughout the month of October, pink is a color you see everywhere. Businesses and residents alike show their support by donning the pink ribbon in support of breast cancer awareness. There are many great charities that you can donate to and help fund research, but what if you wanted to make an immediate impact on your community?
The Cullman County Bosom Buddies Foundation is a local organization that started out as a simple support group for those who are fighting, or have survived breast cancer. While the support group has been around approximately 20 years, the Bosom Buddies Foundation is still a fairly new non-profit.
The foundation has committed their time to helping those undergoing treatment for cancer, get everything they need to weather the storm. Judy Watts, board member of the Bosom Buddies Foundation talked about the different aspects of life with which the foundation helps.
“The function of the foundation is to work through the nurse navigator’s office at the hospital,” said Watts. “The hospital can help with medical needs if there are financial burdens, and then the nurse navigators can direct patients with financial difficulties to us to help with utilities, mortgage, rent or groceries. Really anything they need to get by.”
The foundation will donate as much as $500 to each patient to help in a time of need. Since they are a non-profit, all of the money to help these individuals comes solely from fundraising and donations. Bike rallies, cookbooks and now, yard signs, are available for purchase through the month of October.
“The yard signs are $12 dollars,” said Watts. “And 100 percent of the money goes back to helping those in our community actively fighting cancer in Cullman County. No one on this board, or working in the organization gets paid a dime. The nurse navigator is the one to take care of using the money to pay the bill, or giving gas cards to help patients get to treatment.”
If you want to help donate, but do not have enough for a sign, Bosom Buddies accepts all size donations, and each one comes with a small card to show your generous contribution. Whether it be $1, $5 or $50, all donations are appreciated and welcomed.
“We started selling the signs to help buy things for the 5K Run,” Watts said. “When you do a run like this, it takes supplies, but then we built enough up to start putting the money we raise from them now into our account. We also have donation cards that we were selling for $1, but people ended up donating more than that.”
The cards are available to individuals or businesses that want to help support the foundation by taking donations in their stores, and hanging the donation cards. While they have had some success with the cards, many of the larger chains do not allow for donations from anyone other than national organizations. Even so, the organization has managed to raise close to $2,000 with this fundraiser, and the walk, which happened this weekend, will hopefully bring in even more donations.
“How many people do you know that have been touched by cancer?” Watts asked. “It is everywhere, and anyone is vulnerable to it. When you’re going through treatment, you’re unable to work, and sometimes your spouse is unable to work because they need to help take care of you. It puts a strain on any household, and 100 percent of our money goes back to the people in this county undergoing treatment.”
If you would like more information on The Cullman County Bosom Buddies Foundation, please like their Facebook page, or you can now mail donations to their address at P.O. Box 123 Vinemont, AL 35179.
