Stacy M. Brooks founded Cindy's Legacy Charity after her mother Cindy passed away from brain cancer. The costs of Cindy's cancer treatment were astronomical and left her without an income as a single mother. Through community fundraisers, Stacy's family raised $20,000 to help pay Cindy's medical bills and other expenses. After Cindy passed away, Stacy wanted to continue helping cancer patients and started Cindy's Legacy. Since 2011, Cindy's Legacy has provided over $50,000 in grants to over 200 cancer patients to help pay their bills. Stacy invites people to an upcoming fundraising event at local shops to help Cindy's Legacy continue providing assistance to more cancer patients.

1. BlogPost – Sip, Shop & Support Cancer Patients: WhyWe Do It
Stacy M. Brooks,Founder/President,Cindy’sLegacyCharity
The cost of cancer can be astronomical tosay the veryleast.For many,basicneedssuchas makinga car
paymentor payingcell phone billstarttotake a back seatto the mountingmedical billsandprescription
costs.I learnedthisfirsthandwhenmymomwas diagnosed.Inoursituation,mymomworkedina
professionwhere if youdidn’twork,youdidn’tgetpaid.Youknow,thatthingcalled“commission-only”.
Well,itwasfine whenshe washealthy,itcertainlypaid all the billsandmore because she wasgreatat
whatshe did.But,a brain cancerdiagnosiswouldchange everythingovernight.
She couldn’twork,so as a single motherand headof household, she hadvirtuallynoincome.And,with
shoddyhealthcoverage tosaythe least(the small businessshe workedfordidn’tofferit),the medical
billsandstressquicklypiledup.
To pay the bills,ourfamilyturnedtofundraisers –involvingherclients,friends,familyandcommunity.
It was an experience inhumilityforusall.And,itmade me realize thatpeople reallydowanttohelp
whentheycan.It’s humannature for mostof us to want to liftothersupwhentheyhave fallenonhard
times. Ourgrassrootseffortsraisedclose to$20K to helpmymotherpayher mortgage,medical billsand
not to mentioncollege tuitionbillsformysisterwho wasa studentatthat time.
Aftermymom passedaway,I reallywantedtotake thatenergyandmomentumwe hadand turn itinto
somethinggoodinhername.That’swhenCindy’sLegacywasborn. Since 2011, we have providedmore
than $50K to over200 cancer patients.Ourgrantshave helpedthemwithbill payments,gas,groceries,
medical bills,andinsome casesrentandcar payments.We dothisall viagrassrootsefforts,justlike we
didwhenmymom,Cindy,wassick.We are an all-volunteerorganizationso virtuallyeverypennywe
raise goesdirectlyouttoservingthe people whoneedit.We are verytransparentwithwhat
administrativecostswe have.Theyincludeourpostal mail box,website hosting,andoccasionally
incurredoffice supplycoststohosta fundraiser(forexample,name tags,refreshments,etc.).That’sit!
So,our donorscan restassuredthat whatevertheygive,goesrighttosupportingcancerpatients.That’s
whywe hope people willplantojoinusfor a whole hostof Fall fundraisersthat we have goingon in
2018 includingsomethingveryspecial thisSunday,November4th
.We’ll have a dayof shopping,sipping,
networking,andmore at Scout & Molly’sand Kendra Scott bothin RestonTownCenter.Duringthe
hoursof 1pm – 4pm, if youshoptheywill donate 20% of the proceedstoCindy’sLegacy.We’ll have
wine tastings(providedbyOneHope), alongwithotherrefreshmentsincludingsweetandsavorybites.
It’sthe perfecttime togetsome earlyholidayshoppingdone orbuythat special orunique giftfor
someone –or treat yourself tosomethingnew forthe season!
Currentlyourapplicationprocessisonholduntil we raise more funds.We are hopeful thatthisevent
will allowustoreopenourapplicationstothe manypeople whoare relyingupon ourassistance.Thank
youso much to everyone whohassupportedandwhoisthinkingaboutsupportingourmission.
Cheers,
Stacy