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Silver Lining fundraiser helps cancer patients
YOUNGSTOWN
Some 180 people gathered Saturday for a fundraising dinner-dance in support of a local organization that offers financial assistance to cancer patients in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys.
The Friends of Hope banquet to benefit the Silver Lining Cancer Fund was at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Hall.
Silver Lining is a non-profit organization founded more than 30 years ago by Dr. Lawrence Pass, a Youngstown oncologist, who is retired and residing in Scottsdale, Ariz. Dr. Pass enlisted physicians, nurses and other hospital staff to donate money and time to this cause.
“The challenges facing families that are dealing with cancer go well beyond the medical conditions; and this helps folks get through some of the daily challenges, not just the patient, but the whole family,” said Frank Hierro of Poland, regional president of Huntington Bank.
The fund pays $150 a month per patient to cover medication costs, transportation to local or distant medical facilities or household expenses.
Money from the fund can be used to cover a patient’s food, gasoline, utility or other costs.
It is not intended to be used to pay physician or inpatient hospital bills or any costs covered by insurance.
The all-volunteer organization’s name was derived from Dr. Pass’ belief that a “silver lining” exists, even when people are faced with the worst circumstances.
“People sometimes can’t work when they’re getting treatment,” and they encounter financial hardship as a result, said Amy Davidson of North Lima, Silver Lining’s co-chairwoman.
“Usually, we give out $5,000 a month” in patient assistance money from the fund, she added.
Davidson is the administrator at the Hope Center for Cancer Care, an oncology group with offices in Boardman and Howland, which Dr. Pass founded.
The banquet raises money “to help folks who are financially disadvantaged, and all of a sudden they come down with cancer, and they have cancer issues,” said Rich Cancio of Youngstown, event coordinator.
“Cancer is a very expensive disease. There are things that insurance doesn’t cover.”
Cancio said his wife, Bebe, who has had three bouts with cancer, has been a fund beneficiary. “We’re just trying to give back” by coordinating the fundraiser, he said.
Banquet tickets sold for $50 per person or $90 per couple or $350 for a table of eight.
The banquet raised $8,650 last year, when 167 people attended, Cancio said.
All of Silver Lining’s funds remain in its service area, which consists of Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana, Mercer and Lawrence counties.
Recipients of the fund’s assistance must be area residents receiving chemotherapy or radiation treatment for cancer and have a documented financial need.
For more information about the fund, call 330-702-0550.