Cancer Alliance of Help & Hope emerged because of the immense devastation cancer diagnoses were having on Palm Beach County residents. Cancer patients often had to make the impossible choice between feeding and sheltering their families or paying for the medical treatments necessary to save their lives or alleviate their unbearable pain.
Spouses Charles Fischer, Jr., a Palm Beach County banker, and Greta Jean Fischer, an administrator of radiation therapy centers in Arkansas and Florida, learned of this dire suffering. Cancer patients were losing their homes, having vital utilities shut down, going hungry, or having their vehicles repossessed. The extreme financial distress experienced by patients struggling during radiation or chemotherapy was threatening families with homelessness and overwhelming despair.
Charles and Jean discovered that existing groups were raising funds for cancer research and other needs, but none were providing emergency financial assistance to help cancer patients and their families while undergoing active treatment. The pair initiated benevolent efforts with friends and acquaintances to begin meeting the urgent financial needs of cancer patients and created Cancer Alliance of Help & Hope in 2003.
This grassroots nonprofit organization now serves over 1,200 clients and family members per year, disbursing financial assistance to cancer patients in extraordinary need, as well as providing comfort and help through vibrant programs for generous care baskets, food and fuel gift cards, wigs and caps, children’s school supplies, and care for beloved pets.
Cancer Alliance of Help & Hope emerged to combat the severe financial devastation that cancer diagnoses inflict on Palm Beach County residents. Patients often faced an impossible choice between paying for life-saving medical treatments and pain relief or feeding and sheltering their families. Founders Charles Fischer, Jr., a local banker, and his wife Greta Jean Fischer, a radiation therapy center administrator, witnessed this suffering firsthand. Families undergoing chemotherapy or radiation were losing homes, facing utility shut offs, going hungry, or having vehicles repossessed, threatening them with immediate homelessness and overwhelming despair. Realizing that existing groups focused primarily on research rather than basic living needs, Charles and Jean took action by teaming up with friends to meet these urgent, real-time demands in 2003.
In 2016, the nonprofit entered a new era when Stanton Collemer became the CEO. Within a year, he transitioned the small grassroots group into a mainstream agency, ultimately scaling the organization’s budget from $250,000 to $4 million over a ten-year span. Among his major contributions, he launched highly successful signature fundraising events, including the popular Shop the Day Away Luncheon and the original Dance the Night Away Gala. Today, this dedicated organization serves more than 1,400 clients and family members every year, disbursing direct financial assistance to local cancer patients experiencing extraordinary need to ensure their essential everyday bills are covered during active treatment.