Press Release
2012-07-23
Magnolia Meals at Home Provides Home Delivered, Nutritious Meals at No-Cost to People with Breast Cancer in New Jersey and Massachusetts
Together The Eisai Women’s Oncology Program, CancerCare, Cancer Support Community and Meals On Wheels Association of America Are Working to Help Ease the Stress of Those Living with Breast Cancer
Woodcliff Lake, NJ, July 23, 2012 - Magnolia Meals at Home, a new program bringing free, nutritious meals to patients living with breast cancer and their families, is now being piloted in and around Woodcliff Lake, NJ and Andover, MA. The novel program — a partnership between The Eisai Women’s Oncology Program - Magnolia, CancerCare, Cancer Support Community (CSC) and Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) — aims to help patients by providing nourishing meals to households affected by breast cancer so loved ones can spend more quality time together.
“Patients coping with a breast cancer diagnosis often find their normal routines may be significantly impacted by the stressors of dealing with cancer,” said Helen Miller, CEO, CancerCare.
“Magnolia Meals at Home aims to lessen the burden on families during this difficult time, allowing them to maintain normalcy for their children, spouses or aging parents, and more easily manage the activities of daily life while undergoing treatment,” stated Kim Thiboldeaux, president and CEO of the Cancer Support Community.
Participants in the program will receive up to 6 monthly home meal deliveries, each of which will include up to 7 meals that are designed to meet the nutritional needs of people living with breast cancer, and up to 10 meals for family members. CancerCare and Cancer Support Community will identify people who meet the established criteria and enroll them in the program. Local Meals On Wheels programs will reach out to participants to set up meal deliveries, organize a schedule, and provide meals to participants’ homes. Eisai employees will volunteer to help deliver the meals to families.
“As part of Eisai’s human health care (hhc) mission, we created Magnolia to house unique and meaningful programs that are responsive to cancer patients’ needs and give a voice to their challenges,” said Christine Verini, executive director, Eisai Value Maximization Systems Oncology at Eisai Inc. “Because we place a high value on face-to-face interaction, the Magnolia Meals at Home pilot cities were selected based on their proximity to Eisai offices, thus enabling company employees to participate as program volunteers.”
Metastatic breast cancer or breast cancer patients are eligible to enroll if they meet at least one of the following criteria*+:
• Currently undergoing chemotherapy, radiation or hormone therapy
• Underwent chemotherapy or radiation therapy in the last 3 months
• Have been discharged from a hospital (admission was cancer related) in the last 3 months
• Receiving adjuvant or neoadjuvant treatment
*This can include men or women diagnosed with breast cancer
+There are no requirements for financial need to participate in the program
During the pilot, only qualified patients who live within a predefined area of approximately 20 to 25 miles of Woodcliff Lake, NJ and Andover, MA are eligible to participate. For additional details about enrollment criteria, please contact CancerCare or Cancer Support Community directly.
About Eisai Inc
Eisai Inc. is the U.S. pharmaceutical operation of Eisai Co., Ltd., a research-based human health care (hhc) company that discovers, develops and markets products throughout the world. Headquartered in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, Eisai’s key areas of commercial focus are neurology and oncology. For more information, please visit www.eisai.com/US.
The Eisai hhc mission states that, “we give our first thoughts to patients and their families and to increasing the benefits health care provides.” The Eisai Women’s Oncology Program - Magnolia, fulfills the Eisai hhc mission by placing patients at the center of everything we do. We place a high value on face-to-face interaction and socialization with women living with cancer, giving them a voice to express their challenges. More than just a program sponsor, at Eisai our employees are necessary to bring our programs to life.
About Cancer*Care*
CancerCare is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1944 that provides free, professional support services to individuals, families, caregivers, and the bereaved to help them better cope with and manage the emotional and practical challenges arising from cancer. CancerCare services include counseling and support groups, educational publications and workshops, and financial assistance. All of our services are provided by professional oncology social workers and are offered completely free of charge. We help more than 100,000 individuals and families in all 50 states each year, and receive more than one million visits to our websites. To speak with a CancerCare social worker, call 800-813-HOPE (4673), or visit www.cancercare.org.
About the Cancer Support Community
The mission of the Cancer Support Community ("CSC") is to ensure that all people impacted by cancer are empowered by knowledge, strengthened by action and sustained by community. In 2009, The Wellness Community and Gilda's Club joined forces to become the Cancer Support Community. The combined organization, with more than 50 years of collective experience, provides the highest quality social and emotional support for people impacted by cancer through a network of 56 licensed affiliates, more than 100 satellite locations, and a vibrant online community, touching more than one million people each year.
Backed by evidence that the best cancer care includes social and emotional support, the Cancer Support Community offers these services free of charge to men, women, and children with any type or stage of cancer, and to their loved ones. As the largest, professionally led, nonprofit network of cancer support worldwide, the Cancer Support Community delivers a comprehensive menu of personalized and essential services including support groups, educational workshops, exercise, art and nutrition classes, and social activities for the entire family. In 2011, CSC delivered more than $40 million in free services to patients and families. The Cancer Support Community is advancing the innovations that are becoming the standard in complete cancer care. For more information, visit www.CancerSupportCommunity.org.
About Meals On Wheels
The Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) is the oldest and largest national organization in the United States composed of and representing local, community-based Senior Nutrition Programs in all 50 states as well as the U.S. Territories. There are some 5,000 local Senior Nutrition Programs that collectively serve more than one million meals each day to seniors in need of good nutrition. While remarkable, the one million meals figure underestimates the size and scope of the MOWAA network and its reach and influence in communities across America. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of seniors who receive meals, there are many thousands of dedicated professionals who work in these Senior Nutrition Programs. Perhaps more notable are the many volunteers who also “work” for these programs every day. It is said that this group, numbering between 800,000 and 1.7 million individuals, comprises the largest volunteer army in the nation. Through this network, MOWAA is working each day to achieve its established mission to end senior hunger in America .
Important contact information for enrollment
Kathy Nugent, LCSW
CancerCare
141 Dayton Street
Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450
Phone: 1-201-301-6809
Toll-free: 1-800-813-HOPE ext. 6809
knugent@cancercare.org
Julie Taylor
Cancer Support Community
1050 17th Street, NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 1-434-384-0247
Toll-free: 1-888-793-9355
jtaylor@cancersupportcommunity.org
Additional contact information
Bob Herbolsheimer
Meals On Wheels Association of America
203 S. Union Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Phone: 1-703-548-5558
www.mowaa.org
Eisai Coordinator
Eisai Inc.
100 Tice Boulevard
Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey 07677
Phone: 1-201-746-2550
magnolia@eisai.com
All media inquiries please contact:
Lynn Kenney
Eisai Inc.
201-746-2294
Lynn_Kenney@eisai.com
i Braithwaite D, Satariano WA, Sternfeld B, et al. Long-term prognostic role of functional limitations among women with breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst (2010) 102 (19): 1468-1477.
Magnolia and Magnolia Meals at Home are trademarks of Eisai Inc.