New York, NY– A breast cancer survivor in New York, is helping women who are diagnosed with the same disease, ease their financial burdens. Molly MacDonald started “The Pink Fund” which kicks for 90-days.
“I had early stage disease that was unlikely to take my life but it did take my livelihood,” MacDonald says.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer during a job transition. She had no income and was paying COBRA insurance for her and her family.
“We were facing homelessness, I was in line at the food bank, I was bargaining with Ford credit every 60-days to please not come and repo my car,” she says.
After going through a financially devastating divorce, MacDonald took out a life insurance plan worth half a million dollars to make sure her kids were protected.
She says, “I really thought you know if I had an advanced disease and died my children would not be homeless.”
During her 6-month treatment, she met dozens of other women in similar financial situations.
“As I met them and I couldn’t get help for me and I thought well this is a huge gap, somebody needs to do something, why not me?” remembers MacDonald.
So, “The Pink Fund” was born, a breast cancer non-profit that provides financial support to women while they go through treatment.
“We pay patients bills to their creditors for 90-days we align by design with the Family Medical Leave Act and we pay their mortgage or rent, transportation like car payments, insurance and utilities directly to their creditors,” said MacDonald.
It helps women like 63-year old Patty Dell’Olio pay her bills so she can just focus on getting better. She was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in April 2016.
“They were able to pay for my car insurance and my gas bill for three months, it helped me mentally a lot, just take that, those burdens off those two bills was a big help, was a big help,” said Dell’Olio.
A 2013 Bankrate study reports more than 75-percent of Americans don’t have enough savings to pay six months of bills.
Dell’Olio says, “It’s hard because you’re dealing with having to think about if you’re going to be alive in a year or so and then you’re on the phone talking to someone about giving you money, it’s difficult.”
Dell’Olio finished her treatment in 10-months and her doctors say her scans look good, but she will continue to be monitored for the rest of her life.
“On the plus side you develop a certain sense of you know not serenity or calm but you start to prioritize everything and see what’s really important and what isn’t,” she said.
For more information on “The Pink Out,” click here: https://www.pinkfund.org
