The Ellie Fund's Fall Newsletter

Fall 2015 Newsletter

September 17, 2015

Celebrating a strong summer and looking ahead

A note from our Executive Director

On March 1, 2015, I was honored to become the Ellie Fund's Executive Director after serving as the Director of Patient Services. In that role, I understood first hand the truly positive difference the Ellie Fund makes in the lives of hundreds of breast cancer patients each year. By providing essential support services such as grocery cards, meals, gas cards, transportation to appointments, parking, light housekeeping and child care, the Ellie Fund eases the stresses of everyday life, allowing the focus to be on family, recovery and healing.

As of September 1, 2015 we have provided 2 month service grants and 1 month extension grants to 465 breast cancer patients and their family members and estimate assisting a total of 630 patients by the end of this year. Because of a dramatic increase in requests for services, our 2016 goal is to implement the extension of our Healing Together Patient and Family Care Program. In 2009 the Ellie Fund made the difficult decision to decrease the duration of services from 3 months to 2 months. However, because the average length of active treatment, including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy for the patients we serve is 5 months, our aim is to again increase service grants to 3 months with the ultimate goal of providing for a patient's entire course of treatment.

On behalf of the hundreds of patients the Ellie Fund serves each year, please know how grateful I am for your continued support and dedication to our mission. Together, we can look to the future with the intent to alleviate the burden of treatment and improve our patients' quality of life during their entire course of treatment and beyond!

I am so grateful for your support in helping the Ellie Fund lead the way, provide the hope and fund the care for over 600 breast cancer patients and their families each year!

All my best,

Gail Fine

Executive Director

Helping Women, Men and Families Through Their Journey with Breast Cancer

Thanda's journey with breast cancer is similar to many of the patients the Ellie Fund supports each month. When she reached out for help, Thanda was a 42 year old single mother of two young children. The family's story is one of courage, hope and honesty.

The Ellie Fund - Thanda's Story

Patient Services Update

2015 has been a strong year for patient services! From January to September, we have provided 541 grants to patients. The average age of the patients we assist is 51.2, with the youngest patient being 22 years old and the oldest 89. The Healing Together Program has helped 405 children and 1,235 total household members.

Please take a look at the two charts below that categorize our patient grants from

January through September 2015.

Recent Events Recap

Kelley for Ellie - June 8, 2015

As the Ellie Fund, in partnership with WCVB- TV Channel 5 , celebrated the 9th Annual Kelley for Ellie Fashion Show at The Fairmont Copley Plaza , we were honored with a special, surprise visit from Tom Brady. The fashion, fun and fundraising did not stop there. Because of our partnership with Presenting Sponsor The Slater Foundation Fashion Partner Neiman Marcus , Salon Partner Charles David Salons & Spas and the support of all our event sponsors and donors, the event was a fabulous success, raising over $120,000!

Check out event pictures using the links below.

Dina K. Photography

Username: KelleyforEllie2015

Password: 8286

IggyPhoto

Real Golfers Wear Pink Presented by Walmart - August 31, 2015

We are proud to announce that the 3rd Annual Real Golfers Wear Pink Charity Golf Tournament raised a record $71,527! We would like to express our appreciation to Walmart , the Kelleher Family, Epstein, Lipsey & Clifford, P.C. , Scott Clifford, Sean Sparks and all the golfers, sponsors and donors who helped to make the tournament such a tremendous success! If you would like to receive information on next year's event, please contact Hillary Harrelson here .

Do Good Campaign and Annual Fund

Honoring National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Helping Patients Heal

By choosing to support the Ellie Fund you are taking an active role in efforts to alleviate the physical, financial and emotional side effects of breast cancer treatment, partnering in a patient's journey towards recovery and healing. Your support is invaluable to breast cancer patients like Nicole, 34 year-old single mother, who wrote to us saying:

"Chemotherapy wreaks havoc on your body but that in no way compared to the sense of helplessness I felt when I couldn't feed my children. When I went to the mailbox that day, I not only received grocery store gift cards but I also received the most important gift of all - hope."

Our 2016 goal is to implement the extension of our Healing Together Patient and Family Care Program (Healing Together Program). To better meet the continuous needs of patients and families while in treatment, our goal is to increase service grants to 3 months with an ultimate goal of providing services for a patient's entire course of treatment.

Our Do Good Campaign and Do Good Annual Fund are the catalysts by which we can strengthen our daily impact and extend our Healing Together Program.

How you can Do Good:

Join our Do Good Campaign

Our annual Do Good Campaign brings together local businesses and members of our community to support our mission. Companies raise funds through the percentage of the sale of a product or service, hosting an event or an employee initiative. Click here to see who is Doing Good and for information on how to get involved.

Donate to our Do Good Annual Fund

Your gift helps us to reach the estimated 630 patients and their families that we will serve in 2016.

Supporter Spotlight:

Our most requested service is nutritional support through grocery store gift cards. We are proud to partner with Hannaford in providing this essential service as well as in efforts to raise funds.

We are excited to announce that we have recently created a partnership with Hannaford Dietitian Diana Savani, RD, LDN at the Norwell, Waltham and Lowell, MA grocery stores. Together with Diana, we now provide healthy recipes and nutrition tips that are tailored towards the specific dietary needs of cancer patients. We are grateful to partner with Hannaford as part of a collaborative nutrition support team for the breast cancer patients we serve.

"I have known many people who have dealt with the fight against cancer. Nutrition education is very helpful for someone dealing with cancer as it helps them find nutrient-dense foods that are easy to make, appetizing, and inexpensive, all while providing their body with the nutrition it needs to stay as strong as possible. I am thrilled to be able to help those in the community improve their health through free nutrition education."

During the month of October, as a Providing the Hope Partner with our annual Do Good Campaign, Hannaford will be collecting donations at the registers of all their Massachusetts locations. Thank you Hannaford for supporting our mission!