Counter Culture owners Tony and Lisa Damiano opened the doors of their downtown restaurant last Saturday evening to supporters of Friends in Pink, formerly known as Pink Tie Friends. Guests learned a little more about the organization and enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, fine wines and bluegrass music by the Hot Sauce Boys at the fundraising and awareness event.
The organization, established a decade ago to support uninsured or underinsured breast cancer patients, is hoping to expand.
Cheryl Norman Caldwell, president of Friends in Pink, began working with the nonprofit seven years ago, when founder Nancy O’Neill proposed delving deeper into ways to help people survive after diagnosis. O’Neill also believed it was vital for people to have access to cancer screening and diagnosis.
“Basically it was just a group of ladies who wanted to help women with breast cancer who completely had no insurance,” said Caldwell. “O’Neill said we had to help people from soup to nuts. We need to help them get diagnosed early, get treatment, help with expenses for their surgery and then reconstructive surgery.”
Caldwell said the costs associated with breast cancer from diagnosis to reconstruction can easily top more than $300,000 per patient.
One of the organization’s most valued patient assets is its ability to negotiate diagnostic and surgical costs with physicians. They also plan to work on negotiating lower costs for breast reconstruction after surgery for individuals who need it.
“We have helped 250 people on the Treasure Coast already,” said Caldwell. “I say ‘people’ since for some reason in this area there is a high percentage of men with breast cancer, and it can almost be more lethal for them than for women.”
Pink Tie initially struggled to assist one person at a time, so when Caldwell joined them she began promoting the nonprofit by informing physicians and patients from Martin County to Indian River County of the group’s existence. They primarily find and assist patients desperate for help through referrals and word of mouth.
“I think they are such a terrific organization,” said Maureen Saltzer. “They are so creative in reaching out to the community, fundraising for the patients and negotiating with the health care services. Even if you have insurance there are co-pays and expenses that are just not covered related to their treatments.”
“We negotiate everything. We may be a nonprofit but we are also a business and when places like Counter Culture open up their doors, it helps people to find out what we are all about,” said Caldwell. “Now is the time for people to know that we are here to help people and we are here to stay.”
“We are very involved in our community and breast cancer is one of those diseases that we are close to,” said Lisa Damiano, whose mother and sister-in-law were both affected by breast cancer. “We are very passionate (about this). As a small business in downtown, we want to do whatever we can to help – so why not give back to something you care deeply about?”