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Caroline County Health Department recently received a gift from the Bonnie Hilghman Cancer Fund of Mid-Shore Community Foundation. The grant will help ease the financial burden of cancer patients from Caroline County. Those attending the check presentation are: (left to right) F. Graham Lee, president of Mid-Shore Community Foundation; Duane Hilghman, president of Service Transport in Hurlock; Patty Plaskon, Ph.D., LCSW-C, Hilghman Cancer Fund committee member; Becky Loukides, deputy health officer, Caroline County Health Department; Laura F. Patrick, R.N., MS, Caroline County Health Department wellness coordinator; and Robbin Hill, director of foundation programs, Mid-Shore Community Foundation.
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The Bonnie Hilghman Cancer Fund, a fund with the Mid-Shore Community Foundation to support cancer patients in the Mid-Shore region, recently donated $5,000 to the Caroline County Health Department. Duane Hilghman, president of Service Transport in Hurlock, started the Fund to keep his wife Bonnie’s spirit alive and to continue to help others with cancer meet the challenges of the disease. As a result of cobalt radiation treatment for Hodgkin’s disease in the early 70s, Bonnie Hilghman was diagnosed in 1997 with breast cancer and died from the disease in 2004 at the age of 51.
The Fund, which was established in 2005, is designed to help nonprofit organizations provide additional resources to cancer patients to help them battle their disease. To date, 16 individuals have received assistance, which may include money for chemotherapy or the medications to combat the side effects of therapy; funds for transportation, gas, or childcare costs to allow patients to go for treatments; or assistance with household bills a person cannot pay because they are too ill to work, such as housekeeping or nursing care.
Duane Hilghman comments, “While going with Bonnie to her treatments, I heard stories from patients and their families about the many needs that can occur when someone is going through cancer treatment. This fund is an excellent avenue for keeping funds within our community to help the citizens that live here meet these needs as they fight this devastating disease.”
Hilghman adds, “As the holiday season approaches, what better way to help others than to support efforts like this one which helps our friends and neighbors in need.”
The Bonnie Hilghman Cancer Fund is overseen by medical professionals and community representatives from the five-county area of the Eastern Shore that includes Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne, and Talbot counties. Donations to the Bonnie Hilghman Cancer Fund are professionally managed by the Mid-Shore Community Foundation, a pubic foundation designated as a 501(c)(3) charity. Gifts to the Fund are fully tax deductible as allowable by law. Donations may be sent to the Bonnie Hilghman Cancer Fund, c/o Mid-Shore Community Foundation, The Bullitt House, 102 East Dover Street, Easton, MD 21601. For additional information, call the Mid-Shore Community Foundation at 410-820-8175.
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