We are most proud of our "Tote Program".
We have delivered 230 totes to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients in Fresno/Madera Counties. When we first decided to make and deliver totes in May of 2006 we never imagined "word of mouth" could be such a powerful force. Things started slowly, almost a crawl, and then little by little we received more requests. So much so that we needed to create a request form to keep track of deliveries and requests. We now have a committee that takes care of assembly and delivery and the response has been overwhelming. One woman in SOS, Mary Ann, she found it such a moving experience when she delivered a tote to a recently diagnosed patient and said she now knows where she will volunteer in retirement. The daughter of a recent tote recipient wrote to thank SOS for delivering a tote to her mother and told SOS "What you do for breast cancer patients is wonderful! Keep up the good work!" and she hopes someday she can do something to help women in her community.
Educational Items have been donated by Daryle Sakamoto with AstraZeneca, magazines such as Coping, Cure and MAMM were received in the past but we are looking for a consistent supplier of magazines. Dumont Printing provided printing services and their talents for our first brochures, they were beautiful! We are thankful for the many donations made by all our supporters! Thank you all!
Donations and Grants have been given to SOS by the Fresno Regional Foundation, Central California Women's Conference, Beta Sigma Phi Sorority and the Central Valley Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Along with many donations made by individuals. Thank you all for supporting our efforts! |
The totes are much different now, each is handmade, more colorful and all have the specially designed emblem on the front. 
Below are some of the items we are able to include thanks to your generous donations! .  |
Donations can be accepted that will be included in the totes. Some items donated in the past have been bath salts, toothbrushes, antibacterial hand cream, pill boxes, fans, date books, candles, pens, paper, crochet items, inspirational reading material, pocket tissue packs, breast cancer awareness items.
We also include the "Breast Book" by Dr. Susan Love made possible by the CCWC, sleep caps are donated by Hollywood Wigs, American Cancer Society also donates several booklets, one in particular is a favorite of ours to include in the totes "Exercises after Breast Surgery" is a very practical guide to recovery showing very simple exercises. We try to have a balance of items in each tote.
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