A Touch of Comfort was founded by James Pite, who had been battling cancer since 1993, having had months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments as well as two bone marrow transplants. Over 6 years he had hundreds of outpatient hospital visits and has spent months in the hospital - much of the time in isolation. He decided someone should do something to try to make cancer patients feel more at home while they are in the hospital - by providing everything from softer toilet paper to prepaid phone cards to mini stereo systems.
A Touch of Comfort is a non-profit charitable corporation formed to
improve the quality of life and peace of mind for cancer patients and their loved ones.
Its purpose is to provide cancer patients with resources, amenities and/or services
they might otherwise go without and to educate the public about the need for
such assistance.
NYC Fundraiser at SoHo House - Huge Success - Thanks to Rick Savitt, his committee, Mark Cooper, and all attendees!
Winter 2012 Update
During our 12th year our programs at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston, at the Smilow Cancer Center at Yale-New Haven Hospital in CT, and at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City are all ongoing with great success.
We continue to hear encouraging feedback from staff and patients at these hospitals. Our gifts of parking vouchers, cafeteria vouchers, Target, WalMart, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy gift cards and Sunoco gas cards are all well-received. Gift bags containing personal items are also appreciated, we are told.
In addition to the above gifts, we have given special donations from time to time. Some of these are: fleece blankets for comfort, laptops to keep in touch with family and business colleagues, individual DVD players and CD players for entertainment, and libraries of CDs and DVDs.
Last spring we donated a special gift of hotel vouchers to be used by patients who are being treated for stem-cell transplant at Yale–New Haven Hospital’s Smilow Cancer Center. The accommodations are at a local suites hotel which has reliable complimentary shuttle service to and from the hospital. This gift is especially valuable for family members who want to visit for a few days without driving long distances to do so.
We are able to continue like this due to the many faithful contributors who have supported us over the years.
Some of these wonderful people are: Steven & Lisa Pite Family Foundation, Lindlea Ludwick Family Foundation, the Bouvier family, the Rochefort family, the L Newman Foundation, the Kehrberger family, Robert Ford, and William Pite.
Special thanks this year to Jason Friedman and David Tisch for the donation of 500 DVDs for distribution to our three programs.
We are gratified that our mission – “helping cancer patients feel at home” – while in isolation in their hospital rooms for weeks at a time- has been ongoing successfully for over a dozen years.
Click here if you would like to make a standard donation, or to find out more write to:
A Touch of ComfortPO Box 1085,
Orange, CT 06477
or call:
203-795-6148
email: mailbox@atouchofcomfort.org
