Providing Hope for the Holidays in South Brunswick

With the end of the year rapidly approaching, everyone can use a little hope this holiday season.

But there's one township charity that works to spread hope all year long for those desperately in need of it. South Brunswick's Day by Day Hope Foundation was started to provide aid to middle class citizens with cancer who need help with basic everyday needs.  

South Brunswick resident Cheryl Confalone and her family started the Day by Day Hope Foundation to provide help with financial, legal and insurance issues after Confalone was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2010. The foundation also offers assistance for everything from meals and yard work to grocery shopping for those who battling the disease.

"We're doing really well for a small foundation and we've been able to help a lot of people with things like meals and driving them back and forth to the doctor," Confalone said in a prior interview. "We've helped people get money so their family isn't going into collections after they pass away. We have lost a lot of patients, unfortunately, and we also have some who are still fighting. But according to a doctor for one of our patients, this is foundation that was missing from what they had to offer people."

Confalone and her husband have operated a holistic healthcare practice since 1989. After Cheryl's diagnosis, the Confalones put together a team of volunteers to assist in every aspect of the fight against cancer. The foundation helps with every patient’s varying needs, from simple daily tasks to offering free legal work from lawyers who assist in dealing with insurance issues and hurdles.

The only prerequisite for assistance from the foundation is people can't be eligible for aid from social services. 

Through her own battle with cancer, Confalone realized there's a shortage of help available for people fighting cancer unless it's a child or a person eligible for social services. She launched the foundation with a vision to provide a support network for middle income families. 

"It's important that people understand what we do. For people of middle income or who are self employed, we provide something that is not out there," she said. "We help with any type of cancer. It doesn't matter how old you are, as long as you're not indigent or wealthy. All they have to do is call and we're here."

In an effort to raise funds to support their programs, the foundation is sponsoring a holiday event on Sunday, Dec. 15 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Family Karate Super Center at 621 Ridge Road in Monmouth Junction. The event will provide an afternoon of fun with holiday crafts, Christmas stories, cookies and pictures with Santa, in addition to Christmas carols performed by a local choral group.  

A $10 donation or more per child is appreciated. Click here for more information on the Day by Day Hope Foundation, or click here to visit their Facebook page.