​CPSF is proud to be a beacon of hope for cancer patients throughout Vermont and to recognize the more than 500 families served during our 20th anniversary year. This past year we were honored to be chosen as the beneficiary for several amazing fundraising events: Dragonheart Vermont’s annual Dragon Boat Festival, 5th annual Golfing4Life tournament, Awesome Open, the Get Your Rear In Gear virtual 5K, and Vergennes Day Race. We formed a partnership with North Country Federal Credit Union to create a rural transportation fund for patients, knowing that traveling long distances for treatment can be expensive. Through these events and the valued support of our community, we continued to assist Vermont cancer patients at a time when hospitals and other community partners were stretched thin. Click here to see the 2021 Annual Report.

Over the last 20 years the Cancer Patient Support Foundation (CPSF) has supported over 10,000 local cancer patients and their families. Each year CPSF supports over five hundred local families; enabling them to take care of their families and removing barriers to treatment.

In 2021 CPSF supported 525 local patients, awarding over $155,000. Though patients have many needs the biggest one continues to be transportation. Over $46,000 (30% of the total amount awarded) went to help patients with their transportation costs to get to treatment. Other common needs were help with rent and mortgage which accounts for 16% of the CPSF Emergency Fund, utilities make up 16%, and medical costs account for 8%. Other needs include assistance with food, childcare, and prescriptions. Patients range in age from 23-92 years old, with the majority between 50-69. Patients reside throughout Vermont, in every county. However, Chittenden, Franklin, and Washington counties account for most of our patients. Those three counties combined make up 63% of patients served.
​
The CPSF Emergency Fund provides financial support and hope. As one patient wrote, “I received the check your Foundation sent to me, and I want to sincerely thank you for your kindness and consideration. At a time when only bad news seems to be prevalent it has been so refreshing to meet so many wonderful people in every aspect of this trying time. There is a silver- lining in every situation and what I found was this world has a lot of great, caring people in it. Thank you for being one of those great people!”

The 40th Annual Vergennes Day Race will benefit Vermont cancer patients. Patients often must make difficult choices between treating their cancer or taking care of their families’ basic needs. The Cancer Patient Support Foundation (CPSF) does not believe that patients should have to make those choices, its Emergency Fund provides financial support for Vermont cancer patients and their families.
 
​This year the 40th Annual Vergennes Day Race will benefit the Cancer Patient Support Foundation. Organizer Scott Gaines explained that many members of the planning committee had been directly impacted by cancer. “When we first met to talk about this year’s race, we were very involved with one of our committee members whose wife was struggling with cancer, and many other members had lost family to cancer. One committee member’s family had received support from CPSF and expressed tremendous gratitude toward the program.” For Gaines and the committee, the choice of CPSF was a perfect fit giving them “a chance to help those suffering with cancer. Our group is part of what we call the Little City with a Big Heart, the City of Vergennes.” This year’s race will have lots of heart helping local cancer patients in treatment.
 
The Cancer Patient Support Foundation (CPSF) has been providing financial support to Vermont cancer patients and their families for over 20 years. According to Sarah Lemnah, Executive Direct of CPSF “many Vermonters delay treatment simply due to the transportation costs. A tank of gas should not be a factor in a person's cancer treatment. The support from the Vergennes Day Race will allow more Vermont cancer patients to have access to treatment while taking care of their families.” For more information about the Cancer Patient Support Foundation go to www.cpsfvt.org.
 
The 40th Annual Vergennes Day Race will feature a 5K, 10K, and 15K run, and 5K walk, through the Little City Streets, out into the countryside and back. This year there will be an in-person race on August 28th, or you can participate virtually from August 1-27th. For more information or to register go to 40th Annual Vergennes Day Race 2021 (runsignup.com).

About Vergennes Day
The Annual Vergennes Day celebration is hosted by the City of Vergennes. This year features live music, pancake breakfast, craft fair, horse drawn wagon rides, chicken BBQ, rubber duckie race, and more. See the full schedule: Vergennes Day - Addison County Chamber of Commerce, VT

Each year hundreds of rural Vermont cancer patients struggle with the cost of transportation to access life-saving treatment. Many Vermonters delay cancer treatment simply due to the inability to pay for the gas to drive back and forth to treatment. NorthCountry Federal Credit Union (NCFCU) has joined with CPSF to address this growing concern.

“A lack of gas money should never stand in the way of someone receiving treatment for cancer.” Bob Morgan, CEO of NCFCU, stated that if patients are “relieved of the stress of transportation costs, we hope patients in rural Vermont are more able to focus on other aspects of their lives. We’re proud to partner with the Cancer Patient Support Foundation to eliminate a small but common financial obstacle for hundreds of Vermonters fighting cancer.”
​
CPSF and NCFCU have created the NorthCountry Federal Credit Union Rural Transportation Fund to support rural Vermont patients access to much needed medical treatment. This fund will remove a huge barrier that many rural patients face.

Golfing4Life brings together golfers, volunteers, and sponsors for an annual tournament benefiting Cancer Patient Support Foundation and their mission to provide families with the resources they need during cancer treatment and recovery.

​Golfing4Life 2021 will be held at The Links at Lang Farm on Wednesday, July 21. They are looking for sponsors and players, and would love for you to join them!

To register or with questions, call 802-922-5951 or email VTGolfing4Life@yahoo.com.

​​The Cancer Patient Support Foundation (CPSF) welcomes Kayla Wood to the Board of Directors. Wood is a Senior Accountant at JMM & Associates, which specializes in audits of nonprofit organizations. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and currently resides in Bolton, Vermont with her husband and cat. They are expecting a new baby boy in September 2021. Wood is part of the dart and horseshoe community and has ranked in the top 3 in all of Vermont for horseshoes. 

2020 was a challenging year for everyone, but the Cancer Patient Support Foundation is proud to say we were able to support nearly 500 local families. Though we were unable to hold any fundraising events due to COVID-19, with the support of our donors and family foundation we did not have to deny any eligible requests for our Emergency Fund. In addition, we expanded our services to include the Maggie Card. The Maggie Card offers discounts for cancer patients at participating local businesses. Click here to see our 2020 Annual Report.