Foundation brings hope to Butler
Club Hope Foundation of Ellwood City is lending a hand to cancer patients far and wide, spanning counties like Lawrence, Beaver and Butler.
Last month, the organization aided three Butler-based patients with over $9,000 worth of HOPE projects.
Cara Atkinson — founder, president and CEO of the foundation — said Butler County has been the source of many outreach initiatives recently.
“People are referred through one of the treatment centers in Butler County,” she said. “Our projects are fully funded through donations.”
The three projects accomplished by the foundation were part of the ‘HOPE’ category of their mission. HOPEs are tasks or services given for a patient with stage four, terminal cancer.
“Most recently, we helped fund most of the cost for someone getting their furnace fixed so they could be comfortable. We had a ramp built down steps for someone in front of their house, and we’re helping install a chair lift,” Atkinson said.
A long-term initiative started by Club Hope is encouragement boxes for chemotherapy patients. According to Atkinson, Butler County patients get most of their boxes.
“Chemo can sometimes take hours, so we put in notebooks, popcorn, homemade cards in a box of hope and volunteers drop them off on people’s porches,” she said.
Sometimes dropping off bags leads to longer conversations.
“Not everyone wants to talk, and we’re respectful of anything the patient wants,” she said. “One of our volunteers had a woman request we leave the bag on the porch, but then she was home and had a 40-minute conversation.”
Atkinson said Club Hope has grown significantly in its 10 years, starting as an Ellwood City High School club and branching out to surrounding schools.
The foundation began with Atkinson’s own cancer journey.
“I had a cyst drained two times, and (when) I got a second opinion they said it was cancerous. All I have to say is trust yourself, because you know yourself better than anyone else,” she said. “I had half of my thyroid removed and wanted to give back to people who weren’t as lucky as me.”
The organization has provided encouragement, service and hope to patients and families struggling with cancer ever since.
“It makes such a difference when people hear others saying ‘don’t give up, we aren’t giving up on you, we’re fighting with you,’” she said. “Once we gave to people, they gave back to us, because they wanted to help others.”
Besides boxes of encouragement and helpful hands, Club Hope annually holds events like the Home Run Derby and Celebration of Hope Ball to help contribute to their efforts.
“Lots of our funds come from the sponsorship of events. Our derby made $27,000 last time we had it and the Hope Ball made $36,000,” she said. “I just want to let business owners know we’re helping people right in their community. I want people to see exactly what (the money) is going to ... cancer has touched so many lives.”
