Page 5 - Healthcare News Sept.-Oct. 2020

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goal of topping $600,000 during this pivotal month.
These various efforts, and especially her own courageous and very inspiring fight against this still-deadly disease, earned Cassanelli the prestigious Difference Mak- ers Award earlier this year from HCN’s sister publication, BusinessWest. In a recent article that reintroduced award winners
for 2020 — they were chosen in February,
“Usually, my gut is generally right about my treatments and whether they’re working or not, and I have a really good feeling that this is working.”
but not honored as a group until Septem- ber because of restrictions imposed by the pandemic — Cassanelli reflected on how the virus has made her battle even more chal- lenging.
Indeed, she talked about having to go to medical appointments alone because
of COVID-forced restrictions at hospitals. And about having to balance work, home responsibilities, and a cancer battle at the same time. And even about how her work has become more challenging in these try-
ing times — she and her husband, Craig, own and manage Greeno Supply, which supplies many of the products that were, and in some cases still are, in short supply because of the pandemic, like disinfectant, paper towels, and toilet paper.
These challenges haven’t subsided in October, a month set aside for events locally and nationally to promote breast-cancer awareness. But Cassanelli is finding the time and energy to tackle all those initiatives mentioned earlier.
“I’m in the midst of my crazy month,” she explained. “We’re doing a lot of virtual events, like raffles, and people are ordering masks, our company is running 20% off cer- tain items for the whole month of October that we’re giving back to the charity ... we are very, very busy this month.”
For this issue, HCN talked at length with Cassanelli about her ongoing fight — and her ongoing efforts to help prevent others from having to wage a similar battle.
In the Pink
As she began waging her fight against breast cancer, Cassanelli knew she wanted to create a fundraising vehicle for research — one where the money would actually go for that purpose.
Indeed, she said many of the efforts to generate revenue for breast-cancer aware- ness and research efforts wind up spending a large percentage of the money raised on
overhead and other expenses instead.
The Breast Friends Fund is different. “My family and I started the fund when
we realized that most breast-cancer orga- nizations donate about 7% of the money raised to finding an actual cure,” she ex- plained. “The rest goes to advertising, high salaries, early-detection campaigns ... which are all great, but we really need a cure.”
To say the fund has attracted a large num- ber of supporting individuals and businesses would be an understatement. Evidence
of this can be found in the lengthy list of companies staging events to raise money for the fund:
• 2 Hopewell Restaurant is donating $1 for every ‘pink ribbon’ martini it sells dur- ing the month of October;
• New Steps Dance & Fitness Center staged an event called Eat and Shop for a Cure on Oct. 4;
• One-Stop Spirit Shop donated 10% of its sales on Oct. 3 from those who mentioned that they were purchasing for the Breast Friends Fund;
• The Glastonbury Dance Center held a Pretty in Pink Week to raise awareness and money for the fund;
• Hannoush Jewelers donated two prizes for a month-long raffle, with tickets selling for $10 each, or three for $25;
• Danielle Marie Photography is donating a portion of its gift print sales during the
Please see Breast, page 23
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