Our New Home
BREATHING ROOM MOVES TO A NEW HOME
“New Office Allows For Continued Growth of Local Non-Profit”
[Elkins Park, PA] – After nearly 8 years in the old office space, the Breathing Room Foundation, a local cancer outreach program, has made a big change to acquire a beautiful and spacious location in Elkins Park.
“We love everything Jenkintown provided us over the past decade,” said Mary Ellen Fitzgerald. “But as our foundation has grown in the last 5 years from supporting 500 new families annually to now providing critical and urgent support to 1200 newly referred families, it was time that we gave ourselves a bit more space to work. In our new home, not only does our current staff and volunteers have plenty of dedicated workspace, but we also have room to expand when it comes time to add new staff.”
The new home for the non-profit features 16 rooms, with ample parking and storage to accommodate our valued volunteers and the vast collection of goods needed to run our family support programs. The offices are next to St. James Roman Catholic Church, which the Breathing Room has partnered with for many years.
“St. James has been incredibly generous to BRF, allowing us to utilize their gymnasium to organize our Back to School program as well as our Thanksgiving, Holiday and Easter Basket programs,” Fitzgerald said. “In years prior, we have loaded our cars at the old office and made many trips to the St. James facility to transfer items to prepare for each program. Now, we can just walk across the parking lot! We look forward to a continued long-term partnership with the community of St. James parish.”
The first program the Breathing Room Foundation will execute from its new home is the Back to School program. The annual program helps to fulfill the back to school needs of children affected by cancer so that they can start their school year feeling confident and prepared. BRF was able to provide school supplies to more than 400 children last year.
“It may not seem like much, but that one less trip to Wal-Mart or Target to complete a school supply list means additional quality time the family has to spend together,” Fitzgerald said. “And for those that may have a compromised immune system due to cancer treatment, leaving the house presents an even greater risk with COVID still present in our communities. It is more important than ever for us to continue to find ways to help our families through these uncertain times.”
For more information about the Back to School program including how to donate supplies directly through Amazon, visit https://breathingroomf.wpengine.com/back-to-school-program/