Cancer Foundation Leauge

article by Meredith McKinnie

The Cancer Foundation League (CFL) is a nonprofit, started in 2002 by Virginia Knickerbocker and Dee Dee Cook. The women who wanted to help their friend who had been recently diagnosed with cancer. At the time, only the American Cancer Society existed, and the ladies wanted to create something by local people, for local people. They received their first significant donation from The Kitty Degree Foundation; Cindy Rogers, Kitty Degree Foundation president, was the first CFL member and is still a sustainer today. The League’s mission is: “to provide assistance to area cancer patients and their families and to support the Louisiana Cancer Foundation.” The League has grown to 72 members, all volunteering their time and efforts to support cancer patients across Northeast Louisiana. CFL is this year’s recipient of funds from Fashion Fusion, taking place on April 28 at the Monroe Civic Center. Debbie Bourg and the DBK dancers partner with local boutiques to put on the runway show. Debbie is teaching her dancers about the importance of giving back to their community. The emphasis is local. The talent is local, the boutiques are local, and the people benefitting from the event are local, neighbors helping neighbors.

CFL has raised $1.8 million since 2002 and has served over 4700 patients in the area. They provide medication and medical supplies, cover household expenses, sometimes house payments. They aid in expenses and transporting patients and their families for treatment at St. Jude or Houston or Shreveport. Sometimes someone in Tensas Parish needs to get to St. Francis; they handle that, too. They also provide nutritional supplements, lodging in some cases, gas cards and Christmas baskets. Last year, the volunteers delivered 105 Christmas baskets filled with: ham, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, green beans, sweet potatoes, crossword puzzles, pens, toothbrushes and hand lotions. The baskets are distributed between the 6th and the 10th of December. Sometimes the patients have already passed away, but family members usually know someone else in need. Some patients aren’t blessed with someone to care for them, and the volunteers provide support. Their stretch is deep and widespread in the community. They currently have 214 patients in Caldwell Parish, 340 in Franklin, 316 in Richland, 351 in Lincoln, and 212 in Jackson, just to name a few. Every day, a new patient is referred from doctor’s offices and by word of mouth. The League’s motto is: “Seldom seen, but strongly felt.”
The League also offers medical services with free screenings: They partner with Oncology Associates to offer breast and cervical exams in January. Oncology Associates opens their doors on a Saturday with local doctors volunteering their time. This year, ten women received abnormal paps and were referred to doctors for treatment. These women would have never known they were at risk without the free screenings. March is colon and rectal awareness month, and the volunteers give out free take-home kits. In May, the focus is skin cancer, and in September, prostate cancer.

Fundraisers support CFL, and two primary ones take place each year. The Evening of Southern Elegance Gala happens in January, and The Theresa Marsala Memorial Golf Classic is happening at Frenchman’s Bend May 11. Theresa Marsala was a past president of the League and had the vision for the golf tournament. She passed away nine years ago, and her daughters Leslie Trahan and Catherine Stuckey now co-chair the event. Leslie insists, the tournament was, “near and dear to Mom’s heart,” and they are living out their Mom’s legacy. Donations come from banks having bake sales with competitions between branches, kids collecting canned goods, quiz bowls, all called Angel Wings projects. In June, CFL hosts the annual cancer survivors’ celebration dinner at the West Monroe Convention Center.

Current president of The Cancer Foundation League is Alise Oliver. She lost her best friend Paula Woodman to cancer seven years ago, and another friend suggested she join the League. At the first meeting, Alise could feel the excitement, which she calls, “the contagious light,” of women on a mission. Every volunteer has a story of why they’re there. They’ve all been affected by cancer. Ironically, three months after joining, Alise’s mother-in-law was diagnosed with oral cancer, followed by her stepdad with a tumor, and then her cousin’s child with a brain tumor. It became her mission to help them and people like them. Having been a PTA president, a Girl Scout leader and a room mother, Alise calls her work with the League, “the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.” She feels blessed to interact with patients, insisting they’re all so positive. She admits we often take the little stuff for granted. And while their contributions may seem small, they mean a lot to those suffering. It makes Alise feel good giving back to others.

The exceptional group of volunteers call themselves the “CFL family” and have formed lifelong friendships. And Alise plans to keep working, until they one day find a cure for cancer and she can turn her attention to helping others elsewhere.

Leslie Trahan knows cancer up close. Her husband Andy was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer at only 33 years of age, having never smoked. Andy’s cancer was caused from a genomic mutation, a common case in many, otherwise healthy, cancer patients all over the world. Within 30 minutes of the diagnosis, someone from CFL called Leslie to help. Leslie admits she didn’t know what she needed yet, but CFL was there to provide. Leslie says, “the world stopped moving,” when she got the news. She and her family went through weeks of shock, wondering, “How do we get through this?” She walked around in a daze. And for awhile, they lived in fear. She remembers resting her hand on Andy’s chest at night, feeling for the rise and fall, wondering if it would be last time. The doctors gave Andy 3-6 months, but that was five years ago. He’s responded well to treatment.
Leslie says the hardest part is their three children, wondering, “How much do they need to know?” She doesn’t want them live in fear, but she doesn’t want them blindsided by the loss of their father either. As for herself, Leslie has to live knowing one day she will be without her person, and she finds it hard to imagine. She says, “We were supposed to grow old together.” She’s learned life’s plans get altered, and she has to change with them. They travel more now, making an attempt to live life like they did before cancer and make as many memories as they can. Leslie believes in this organization, having seen its reach from both sides. The Cancer Foundation League is the local connection for those in need. We’ve all been touched or know someone affected by cancer.