Serino (podium) secured the money
POUGHKEEPSIE – State Senator Susan Serino (R, Hyde Park) secured $20,000 to help the Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation’s “Medical Gap Care Fund,” which provides financial assistance to people in treatment whose medical insurance too often falls short.
The disease is not only physically debilitating, but it can place a severe financial crunch on a family, noted Pari Farood, Miles of Hope executive director.
“Eleven percent of individuals with cancer reported an inability to pay for food or necessities while paying for cancer treatment,” Farood said. “Cancer is a physically and emotionally taxing disease for both patients and their families. Almost 20 percent of families experiencing cancer reported its impact led to someone in the household to lose a job, change jobs, or worth fewer hours. Any of these can result in the loss of employer-sponsored insurance.”
Farood said Serino “realizes how costly a breast cancer diagnosis can be and how Miles of Hope can step in and help people affected by breast cancer in the Hudson Valley.”
In touting the upcoming Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October and the third year that she has delivered the funding, Serino said a breast cancer diagnosis “can change the life of a patient and their families in an instant, and the last thing they should have to worry about is deciding which bills to pay and covering the cost of treatment. All a patient should have to focus on is recovering and the Medical Care Gap Fund empowers them to do that.”
Miles of Hope is a local nonprofit organization founded in 2004 with the mission of funding support services for people affected by breast cancer in the Hudson Valley.
