Jul 3, 2009 2:10 pm US/Eastern
Baltimore's Red Devils Help Breast Cancer Patients
BALTIMORE (AP) ―
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Friends Jessica Cowling and Ginny Schardt formed the Red Devils, a Baltimore-based nonprofit named for a chemotherapy drug.
CBS
Two breast cancer survivors are giving back the support they received after they were diagnosed with the disease.
Friends Jessica Cowling and Ginny Schardt formed the Red Devils, a Baltimore-based nonprofit named for a potent, scarlet-red chemotherapy drug, that helps breast cancer patients and their families with a variety of services, including funding child care, coordinating rides to the doctor and helping to pay bills.
Ronda Badiang said the group paid a $1,000 deductible for her treatment -- no questions asked.
"Even with good insurance, I still needed them," said the 35-year-old Taneytown mother of one. "Initially, I cried. It was a blessing."
The organization helps about 650 women a year, but the economic downturn is making it more difficult.
"We're seeing a lot of people who need help with mortgages, gas and car payments," executive director Jan Wilson said. At the same time, "donations are down. We're seeing more gifts, but they're smaller in size.
"The hospitals have a very difficult time deciding who to refer to our organization, because we can't help everybody."
The Red Devils recently received a $150,000 grant from the nonprofit Susan G. Komen for the Cure, but their largest annual fundraiser, the Red Devils' Heart and Sole Stroll in Columbia, fell $25,000 short of its $130,000 goal and the group is hoping to increase online fundraising.
"When you have cancer, it's for 24 hours a day," said Elizabeth Weglein, chief executive officer of the Elizabeth Cooney Care Network, which provides services funded by the Red Devils.
"(We) work to identify individuals who have fallen through the cracks."
Badiang, who had to quit her job as a home help aide because of her breast cancer, has also raised more than $5,000 for the Red Devils.
Her husband, Jason Badiang, 32, an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Taneytown's Northwest Middle School, has taken a second job cleaning corporate offices at night to help pay off the mounting medical bills.
"I call (breast cancer) my inconvenience," Badiang said. "You never know, you could be next."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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