Cornucopia House Cancer Support Center celebrates its founders

Just a quick reminder of who you're really supporting when you come by and click on this humble blog.

It's no secret that joining Seed Media Group's ScienceBlogs.com can bring the blogger(s) a very small amount of compensation based upon grades of site traffic - depending on your traffic, this could be about as much as paying for your monthly highspeed internet connection at the house. But over the course of a year, this ends up being more money than I donate personally to my public radio station.

Anyway, when I started Terra Sig at the old joint and was invited to join Sb, I was in a meatspace job where I was not allowed to accept any additional compensation. So, I just had (and continue to have) Seed donate my doubloons directly to a local, non-profit cancer patient support center that operates independently of our NCI cancer centers and other cancer hospitals. They perform a wonderful mission in giving resources, education, and a healing space not just for people with cancer but their family and caregivers as well. They also offer events on tai chi and exercise, stress management, nutrition, and other types of supportive modalities while being very, very careful not to venture into the unsubstantiated arena of deceptive alternative practices (yes, I'll occasionally be called up to evaluate a session for a ruling on "woo"/"not woo").

This past weekend, Cornucopia House Cancer Support Center, held an event to honor and remember the women who founded this organization 12 years ago:

Twelve years ago, therapist Anne Mader, Karen Binder and Nancy Dotson set out to create a community of support for anyone touched by cancer -- patients, families, friends and caregivers -- free of charge. . .

. . ."These three women had the vision to see that cancer support was going to be a growing need," said Mary Lawrence, executive director of the Chapel Hill-based Cornucopia House. "Thanks to their perseverance and leadership, the dream became a reality. . .

. . ."While the survival rates are increasing, there is still tremendous need for support services for the growing number of individuals affected by cancer," Lawrence said. "What hasn't changed is our long-standing commitment to provide these services free of charge to anyone touched by cancer at any point in their journey."

Over its 12-year history, Cornucopia House served an increasing number of people touched by cancer. So far in 2008, the organization has served 306 individuals. Attendance at its programs and services numbered 1,519, and its staff, volunteers and service providers handled an additional 2,000 inquiries from people seeking information or referrals. Volunteers have logged in more than 2,000 hours in the first three quarters of the year.

So, now you have something to feel good about today.

Thanks for your support. - APB