A four-year-old YMCA program for cancer survivors is getting a boost from new grant is allowing the program to expand.
A recent $100,000 grant from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware means the LIVESTRONG cancer recovery program will have a bigger footprint in the First State.
“So anyone going through cancer treatment or completing cancer treatment or who may be on the road to recover, this program is for them. And these funds will allow us to offer the program at all seven of our locations and also to offer it for free - which is very important when someone has been through so much and has so many medical bills,” said Deborah Bagatta Bowles, president and CEO of the YMCA.
She notes that the program allows cancer survivors to get together and start talking about what the future may look like - as they start to get their strength and flexibility back.
Bagatta Bowles says in 2019, The YMCA’s LIVESTRONG program supported 229 cancer survivors working to build back physically and emotionally after completing their treatment.
She says with this grant from BCBS, they hope to double that this year and get into communities where there haven’t been as many classes in the past.
