Ed Smith spoke with Holly Dutcher, the Executive Director at C.U.R.E Childhood Cancer Association in Rochester.
-She spoke about their mission which is to improve the lives of those dealing with cancer and their family members and families that have lost children to cancer.
-Holly talked about how they provide education, social, emotional and financial support to them.
-These services are provided at no cost and so the generous support of the community and their fundraising events are important and is what makes it possible.
-She explained the process of how families are referred to them by the staff at Golisano Children’s Hospital.
-Holy says they support families who have to travel out of town for treatment as well.
-C.U.R.E has an employee who works at the hospital and meets with families, she is the mother of a child who had cancer.
-She talked about the Parent Advocate Program they have.
-Holly talked about how they are doing community outreach and fundraising events. They have a golf tournament in a few weeks that is sold out but they are working on more events for the fall.
-September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month so they have a bunch of events and awareness programs planned. This includes the Liquid Gold for C.U.R.E which brings in local restaurants into a competition. They are also doing a blood drive and encouraging people to wear shirts to spread awareness. The thought is that this provides an inexpensive way for community members to get involved with the organization.
– They rely heavily on volunteers to make their events and day to day operations successful. They are always looking for more volunteers.