Local organization helping cancer patients
MARQUETTE — According to the American Cancer Society, 1.6 million cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the year 2017. One local organization with a long history in the area is making sure those cases that pop up here in Marquette County don’t go un-helped.
“Sometimes we think boy, we’re not giving them very much money, but they really appreciate it. For some reason, it does help; it makes quite an impact on them,” said President of Cancer Care of Marquette County, David Poirier. “It would be nice if that’s all they had to concentrate on-their therapy and getting better, everyday life. If you can take away some of the financial burden, it’s huge.”
Back in 1955, a handful of local residents created the Ishpeming Cancer Society to help those suffering from cancer who were in financial need. And over 60 years later, and one name change, Cancer Care of Marquette County is still assisting local cancer patients in the county.
“What we’re seeing now, is less uninsured people, people coming to us with maybe $150,000 in bills,” said Poirier. “While we’ve seen a decrease in that, we’ve seen an increase in people who have a $5,000 deductible and then a 20 percent co-pay. Cancer therapies are extremely expensive.”
Poirier said this can be extremely stressful for a family as most hit that $5,000 deductible in just two or three visits or treatments. The organization raises between $60,000 and $70,000 every year, and is able to give between 60 and 70 families $1,000 to help with treatments, insurance co-pays, travel expenses and hospital bills. This money is mostly raised through grants and donations from United Way and the Superior Health Foundation.
They also fundraise through golf outings and other events, like March’s Stick It To Cancer, which raised money for the organization and local junior hockey player, eleven year old Caleb Bell who was diagnosed with Lymphoma a few months ago. Poirier said they wish they could give more, especially when a family’s bread-winner becomes sick or a child is diagnosed since their treatments tend to be more specialized and further away, but it all depends on the year’s donations. Over the course of the organization’s long existence, Poirier said the community has been very helpful and forthcoming.
“And that’s part of the reason we all live here, people up here are very generous,” said Poirier. “We’ve pretty much touched the lives of many members of our community or a relative of theirs. When you make the call for help, there are people to pitch in and help us out.”
Poirier said that even if they can’t help financially, they can rally up other forms of support and encourages cancer patients to reach out. And if you or someone you know could benefit from a similar program but don’t live in Marquette County, Alger and Delta Counties have identical resources.