BURLINGTON, N.C. — Chances are you may know someone affected by cancer, the CDC says there were 20 million new cases diagnosed in 2022.
Right here at home, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services had close to 20-thousand individuals in our state that died from cancer and about a thousand of those were from here in Guilford County.
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A local non profit is lending a hand to those going through a scary time.
Founder of Little Pink Houses of Hope, Jeanine Patton-Coble, battled breast cancer herself and wanted to give women a chance to breath a sigh of relief from the stress of going through cancer treatments.
"One of the biggest things we offer is an opportunity to hit the pause button on their treatments and the craziness of cancer to enjoy these precious moments with their families," said Coble. "We send away 8 to 10 families, 20 different weeks of the year all over the United States and they have a great opportunity to develop a unique network of support where they no longer feel isolated. The kids have a great experience, the parents have a great experience but collectively as a group, they're connected in ways you can't even imagine."
Thanks to the program, families are whisked away on free week-long vacations, where they meet up with other families who are also on the same breast cancer journey.
Patten-Coble said the idea to provide this type of service started after she started looking for resources during her own breast cancer battle.
"I was diagnosed when I was 39. It came out of the blue, I had no family history of it and it became really clear to me that there was a gap or void in services. There were a lot of things out there for me as a cancer patient but not a ton for my family," recalled Patten-Coble.
Little Pink Houses of Hope will hold their 14th annual Gala 'Dancing with the Little Pink Stars' on October 5 where community leaders across the Triad dance for an important cause.
The fundraising goal this year $250K.
For information on how to donate, click or tap HERE.