‘Grateful Friends’ raises money to ease the burden of cancer patients

By Michael M cHugh Staff Writer

BEVERLY — The burdens of dealing with cancer go far beyond the physical pain of treatment or the constant hospital visits. A cancer diagnosis can completely upend a person’s life, as it forces them to divert all their attention to maintaining their health and dealing with treatment.

Knowing this, the Beverly nonprofit Grateful Friends is now nearing 10 years of trying to help ease those burdens for local cancer

See FRIENDS, Page A2

Gwen Ryan, left, and Lee Miraglia co-founded Grateful Friends after going through their own bouts with cancer.

COURTESY PHOTO

Continued from Page A1 patients. The group was founded in 2014 by Gwen Ryan, of Gloucester, and Lee Miraglia, of Peabody.

With various programs to provide comfort, support, entertainment, and financial assistance to cancer patients, Grateful Friends was founded to help reduce some of the less talked about hardships that come about from undergoing cancer treatment.

“When people go through cancer treatment, as we know, the bills still come in,” said Grateful Friend’s Executive Director Andi Hall. “So what we do is offer financial assistance to adult cancer patients who reside in Essex and Middlesex counties. They send us a doctor’s letter and the bills, and we basically go through them and pay what we can each month.”

Grateful Friend’s “A Little Piece of Mind” program provides direct bill-paying assistance for the many expenses that people going through cancer treatment are bound to run into. This program grants up to $750 per person for things such as taxi fares, insurance payments, and various bills such as rent, utility, or electric, which keep coming on schedule regardless of a cancer diagnosis.

“We are hoping in the next two years that we can double that $750 that we give out. So right now, our goal is to either increase the amount that we can give patients, or to increase the amount of patients that we can help,” said Hall.

With the program being largely volunteer-based, Grateful Friends relies on sponsorships, charitable donations, and fundraising from events, such as the upcoming “Rise ‘n Shine Halloween Pancake Breakfast” on Sunday, Oct. 22, to continue their support.

“So this is what we call our ‘Community Hug’; our ‘thank you’ to the local community, and our way to let people know that we’re here,” explained Hall. “It’s going to be at the Cove Community Center in Beverly and we’re gonna have children’s entertainment, cooks on site from Essex Tech’s culinary program, and a costume procession on the stage for kids, parents, and anyone who wants to dress up and have fun.”

The fundraising from events such as this are integral to the continued operation and eventual expansion of Grateful Friend’s programs. Beyond direct bill paying assistance, the organization also provides cancer patients with comfort baskets filled to the brim with supplies customized for the specific person and their type of cancer, such as cough drops, ointments and head pillows.

The “Need A Break” program gives patients a much needed escape from everyday stress with entertainment resources such as movie tickets, dinners, massages, and more. Another i n i t i at ive, called the “Thank You Program” gives patients the opportunity to thank some of the friends or relatives that have acted as caregivers throughout their treatment with kind words and a gift card. These four main programs are largely supported by events like the “Rise N’ Shine Halloween Breakfast” or the annual Holiday Luncheon, taking place this year on Nov. 30 at the Tupper Manor in Beverly.

The breakfast this Sunday starts at 8:30 a.m., with tickets available on the organization’s website, gratefulfriends.org. The Cove Community Center is located at 19 East Corning St. in Beverly.

Michael McHugh can be contacted at mmchugh@northofboston.com or at 781-799-5202