What happens when cancer strikes? What happens when everything you’ve ever counted on changes on a dime? For Miller-Dwan Foundation’s Caring Ways Cancer Resource Center Manager, Chris Mitchell, the answer easy. You help one another. You pull people together, and especially around the holidays, you give.
This year with Mitchell’s help, a multi-department employee team didn’t hold back. Together they contributed to 11 families most in need. From the family adopted by the radiation oncology department to the lymphoma patient unable to work, everyone received an item of importance specifically chosen for them. They were families with small children, people crushed by debt, and those fighting for hope. Some got bikes, some got lawn mowers. One received a vacuum cleaner, and one tiny individual got his first bed.
Gifts were determined by need and based on a list provided cancer patients. “It wasn’t easy to gather the lists. Many of our patients are selfless,” said Mitchell. “But they needed help, and we wanted to do it. It’s our holiday tradition.”
This year, contributions were made, too, by Twin Ports Dermatology, Obermiller Nelson Engineering and St. Scholastica. “This is truly a community undertaking.” The process starts in mid-November with social workers and patient navigators collecting names of those they know are struggling. The departmental teams collect gifts, wrap them and deliver them or arrange for pick up. “We can never do enough but doing something tangible and seeing the obvious gratefulness in patients’ eyes is enough for us.”
The Miller-Dwan Foundation supports the Caring Ways Cancer Center and 1000’s of patients and families experiencing unexpected health crises. We do this through your support. Every dollar stays right here in the Northland serving you, your family, friends and loved ones. So, don’t hold back. Donate here today.
