For the second year in a row, Iredale Mineral Cosmetics has collaborated with the pastures to raise funds for women with cancer living in the Berkshire Taconic region. August 19th was IMC Employee Day at the pastures. To kick-off the launch of IMC’s 2011 Rise Above with Love campaign, IMC employees raised $9,000 for the Women’s Cancer Wellness Fund. At the pastures, the focus was on employee wellness with a two-mile walk, swimming, hula-hooping and dancing, badminton and croquette, a healthy lunch, and relaxing in the fresh air. Rise Above with Love spotlights the emotional and physical support network surrounding women who are living with, and through, breast cancer and celebrates the healing power of friendship.
Bridget Ford Hughes receives $9,000 donation to Women's Cancer Wellness Fund from Jane Iredale
The Women’s Cancer Wellness Fund provides financial assistance to women with cancer in the Berkshire Taconic region seeking complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and holistic care not covered by their health insurance. CAM, which includes a wide range of modalities from chiropractic and acupuncture to naturopathy, meditation and movement therapy, is distinguished from conventional Western medicine.
The National Institutes for Health include a National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The American Cancer Society provides specific information about the benefits of CAM in treating cancer. Cancer Treatment Centers of America advocate for integrative cancer treatment. Here in the Berkshires, Connecticut Oncology and Hematology promotes the use of CAM for cancer patients. And yet, complementary and alternative medicine are commonly not covered by health insurance plans.
The Women’s Cancer Wellness Fund aims to give women with cancer in the Berkshires every advantage in coping with the disease by improving access to “unconventional” treatments widely recognized as effective. Fund founder, Bridget Ford Hughes is a breast cancer survivor and has first hand experience with the benefits of CAM in caring for the whole person — mind, body, and spirit.
“I am here today because I learned the best way to manage the stress of cancer, to eat well, keep my body strong, and find the joy in my life,” said Hughes at a recent workshop on alternative medicine. “I want other women to have the options I had.”
The Women’s Cancer Wellness Fund is a charity administered by Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and donations are tax deductible. The region served by Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation is shown in the map below. Applicants to the fund request financial support for specific treatments from a specific provider. They must demonstrate a need for financial support and provide documentation. Payments are made by the fund directly to the provider. Both applicants and service providers must reside in the region shown on the map. Click here to download an application.
Here is what the fund’s first recipient, Melissa Allemang from Housatonic, Massachusetts, had to say about her experience:
“Being a woman with cancer is quite a challenge and the acupuncture help from the Fund is greatly enhancing my quality of life. We in the Berkshires are blessed to have people such as those at The Pastures Fund to help women cope with this illness in non-traditional ways. I am hugely thankful to all involved.”
Click here to download an application for the Women’s Cancer Wellness Fund.
Applicants must reside in one of the communities on the map below. Double click on the map to enlarge it.
