(Courtesy of RCCS) Rofeh Cholim Cancer Society (RCCS) hosted three separate fundraising events over the past few months, two in Teaneck and one in Englewood, designed to publicize the unique services that are being offered to Jewish cancer patients in North Jersey and the surrounding areas, and to bring in critical support.
RCCS co-chairs A.J. and Leah Schreiber, Gerry and Meira Adest and Paul Rolnick invited over 110 guests to enjoy “The GrillFather BBQ Experience” at the home of longtime RCCS partners Kenny and Naomi Schiff. Manny Levy spoke emotionally about his painful journey with stage 3 prostate cancer and how RCCS has been helping him every step of the way. Rabbi Dovid Cofnas, regional director for RCCS, told the crowd that RCCS takes a fundamentally different and very practical approach to assisting cancer patients. “When a patient asks for help, the question that we are always asking ourselves is, ‘How can we give this patient the best possible chance of recovery and survival?’ So towards that goal, we offer primarily medical and financial support because that’s how, with God’s help, we’re going to save lives”.
In September, RCCS friends and partners Shelley and Rob Lefkowitz, Adam and Bassie Lewis, Shira Mirkhani and Avi and Rebekah Mally brought out approximately 120 friends to the Mallys’ beautiful backyard to enjoy another sumptuous barbecue. Former RCCS patient Omry Amar described eloquently the challenges he faced recently and how RCCS helped him to get through this most difficult period in his life. Rabbi Dovid Cofnas related how RCCS had been asked to step in when 6-year-old Edan, a leukemia patient and his family from one of the towns adjacent to the Gaza strip narrowly escaped the October 7 massacre and with no home to go back to, had to travel to New York to stay with distant relatives. RCCS quickly connected Edan with a top-level leukemia specialist and provided his family with an emergency financial grant to cover his medical costs while in this country.
To complete the event trifecta, RCCS supporters Fran and Ken Segal and their large committee recently welcomed close to 150 people at their spacious backyard patio in Englewood. The “GrillFather” aka Motty Samet from Monsey New York, was a great hit again among the guests, serving extra-large cowboy steaks, lamb chops and meat pizzas as well as many creative side dishes and desserts. Patient Manny Levy returned to share his personal story and to express his appreciation to RCCS. Rabbi Cofnas explained to the audience that besides offering personalized and expedited referrals to top-level specialists and help with insurance issues, RCCS is the only organization that pays for the full cost of the medical insurance for patients who are struggling financially. “Very often, the patients we are helping are too ill to work, and sometimes their spouses have to give up work to look after them. Because of that, many of them can’t afford their medical insurance premiums” he said. “RCCS takes upon itself to pay these immense costs so that our patients can focus on getting better and don’t need to worry about where their next payment is coming from. The $10,000-35,000 that each plan costs us will often pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills if not more, so it’s a leveraged investment that is well worth it. In fact, last year, the money we paid out facilitated over $72 million in total medical care for our patients.”
Over the past year, RCCS has helped 118 cancer patients in North Jersey by providing them with access to the best medical care available, and the three separate events raised substantial funding that went to cover the annual insurance premiums of 15 additional local patients.
For more information, or to make a donation, please contact Regional Director Dovid Cofnas at (201) 575 9080, [email protected], or visit www.rccscancer.org.
