Volunteers pack thousands of Hope Kits for women battling breast cancer
Jeff Primeau and Curtis Beavers prepared boxes on Thursday, boxes that will soon be filled with hope.
"Tomorrow we will be here from nine until three packing 3,000 hope kits that will be delivered to women all across the country," said Ashley Miller, senior director of communications with the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Warm fuzzy socks, herbal tea, a little candy, and more go into each box sent to women fighting breast cancer nationwide. Each one is packed with care by volunteers, then labeled and prepared for mailing.
"We always remind people of this. Look at the label, understand the impact. There's a name on the label. That's what's impactful," said Primeau, who volunteers with NBCF.
Names like Gina Iniguez.
"I was just doing a routine mammogram," Iniguez said.
Last August, she got the call so many women fear.
"I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma," she said.
Telling her family was the hardest.
"I had walked in the door he was in a meeting. He looked at me, and I looked at him; he knew. So he came out, and I told him. My oldest came out, he knew what that meant," Iniguez said.
But she decided she was going to fight and began treatment immediately. While much of her care focused on the medical side, she needed emotional support, too.
So she signed up to receive a hope kit.
"I opened it up, and it felt like I received just a hug, honestly, that's what it felt like, and it really did feel like it was full of hope," she said.
That's what volunteers are packaging in these kits. With every box folded and every item placed, they are sending a whole lot of love – and a little bit of hope – to women across the country.
The National Breast Cancer Foundation is sending out 3,000 kits on Friday, but hopes to send even more. On its website, nationalbreastcancer.org, supporters can click on the Hope Kits link and fill an Amazon cart with items needed to help provide more kits – and more hope – to women fighting breast cancer.
