
Biggest Fund-raiser of the Year Benefits MD Patients and Families Living with Breast Cancer
BALTIMORE, MD June 5, 2008 – Driving a car. Cleaning a house. Feeding kids. Attending business meetings. All in a day’s work for many, but try it after hours of a chemotherapy drip, a whopping dosage of radiation or surgery to remove one or both breasts.
This is where The Red Devils steps in, to provide services for Maryland patients and families living with breast cancer – the kinds of services that make life just a bit easier for those in a life-or-death struggle.
Sunday, June 8 is the group’s biggest fund-raiser: The Heart and Sole Stroll at Centennial Park in Columbia, MD. The non-competitive 2.4 mile stroll starts with 9:00 a.m. registration followed by the 10:00 a.m. walk and features entertainment for youngsters as well as a chance to exercise for charity’s sake.
Everyone is invited, including the family dog (on leash). Individual registration is $35; the fee for families is just $70. Pets are free. People may register in advance online at www.the-red-devils.org or arrive early on event day to sign up. Flyers also are available at select area Giant Food locations.
Social worker and nurse coordinators at 28 partner hospitals and breast centers in BaltimoreCity as well as Allegheny, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Harford, Howard and WashingtonCounties plus areas of the Eastern Shore refer patients to Red Devils service providers who help patients and their families better cope with the stress and demands of breast cancer. Services include arranging transportation to and from treatment; buying and delivering meals and groceries; house cleaning; and prescription drug co-pay assistance.
Recipients of Red Devils services tell the story the best, for funds collected go directly to support people such as Vonnie Uzoukwu, a breast cancer survivor who underwent her surgery a year ago last May with Dr. Gauri Bedi in The Hoffberger Breast Center; had chemotherapy with Mercy medical oncologist Dr. David Riseberg and radiation with Dr. Maria Jacobs, director of radiation oncology at Mercy.
“The Red Devils sent me meals, provided transportation, assistance with co-pays, assistance with pain medication. They helped me out a lot and are great,” says Uzoukwu, a mother of four.
The Red Devils even provides funding for such stress-reducing services as acupuncture and massage. Uzoukwu came to Mercy’s Medi Spa for those treatments and now is employed there.
Says Uzoukwu, “I run into a lot of breast cancer patients at the Medi Spa and share information with them about The Red Devils and how they can help. In fact, I still call them and get assistance myself. It’s a super organization.”
Jo Anne Morgan learned about The Red Devils through Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), where she received chemo and radiation treatments.
“GBMC arranged through The Red Devils to have Merry Maids come to my house and clean. It was a true God-send, for I was so weakened and sick from the chemo. My husband cared for me at that time, as well as being full-time primary caregiver for my 91-year-old mother who needs constant attention. He was trying to take care of everything domestic, so The Red Devils provided great relief by having Merry Maids clean the house,” says Morgan.
Patricia Fitzgerald, of Hanover, MD, was referred to The Red Devils by BaltimoreWashingtonMedicalCenter. She received the diagnosis in February of 2006 — stage four metastatic breast cancer — according to husband Damien, who says the family could not have pulled through without the support of The Red Devils and the exceptional medical treatment, some experimental, provided.
“I’d have co-pays ranging from $80 - $100 a month, plus bills for doctor visits. It was just adding up to be too much and then we (lost our source of income). I started calling around to agencies for help and didn’t get anywhere. We would not have survived without The Red Devils and I can tell you, I plan to live for a very long time,” says Fitzgerald, also the mother of four.
According to The Red DevilsExecutive Director Jan Wilson, Sunday’s event will have plenty of children’s activities – including face painting, games and entertainment – plus booths staffed by representatives from The Red Devils’ partner hospitals and breast centers. Strollers may take full advantage of CentennialPark’s playground, rent canoes and paddleboats and reserve tennis courts throughout the day. The first 500 strollers will receive a free t-shirts and four-legged friends will receive special Red Devils gifts as well.
Companies throughout the area are sponsoring teams and registering to start funds coming in to The Red Devils even prior to the June 8 event date. To promote friendly competition, The Red Devils is offering The Reddie Award in four categories: “Most Money Raised by an Individual;” “Most Money Raised by a Family Team;” “Most Money Raised by a Corporate Team;” and “Most Team Spirit.”
Main sponsors this year include HowardCountyGeneralHospital, Aegon Transamerica Foundation and Merritt Properties as well as in-kind sponsors. Media sponsors are ABC2 Baltimore (WMAR-TV), WWMX-FM Radio, and Smart Woman magazine. Emcees for the event are ABC 2’s Mary Beth Marsden and MIX 106.5’s JoJo Girard.
The Red Devils began in 2002 investing $105 in services. Six years later that number has grown to about $175,000 and that growth – plus unique services offered – is what caught the eye of media maven Oprah Winfrey, who included a Red Devils story in a book of “100 Favorite O Magazine Stories” recently published. The Red Devils expects to expand services this year with funds collected from events such as The Heart and Sole Stroll as well as contributions from foundations including The Maryland Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Several area hospitals have stepped up to the plate, donating dollars as well as fielding teams for the cause: Anne Arundel Hospital Center; Baltimore Washington Medical Center; Harbor Hospital; Howard County General Hospital; the Johns Hopkins Breast Center; and Mercy Hospital, whose newest breast surgeon Dr. Dalliah Mashon Black just donated a $500 “Profiles in Philanthropy Award” she recently received from Associated Black Charities to The Red Devils cause.
The Red Devilswas founded in memory of two Marylanders who fought breast cancer with grace and courage – Jessica Cowling and Ginny Schardt – who refused to be defined by their disease. Jessica died in July 2002 and Ginny in August 2002 at the respective ages of 31 and 44. The name comes from a breast cancer treatment drug nicknamed the
Red Devil because of its brilliant red hue.
For more information, call The Red Devils 410-323-0135 or log on to www.the-red-devils.org
Photos: A contact sheet of photos from past year’s strolls is available at
http://the-red-devils.org/media/pressphotos/
MEDIA CONTACT:
Liz Chuday 410-464-1100; Cell phone: 443-794-4809; liz@the-red-devils.org