Parents of pediatric cancer patients at Upstate Medical are getting extra financial support through a $230,000 donation.
The big dollar contribution, from Paige's Butterfly Run—a charity named for Paige Arnold, who died from leukemia in 1994—will help ease the burden of transportation and medical costs.
Uptate's Director of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Dr. Melanie Comito said the money will support parents traveling for their kid's cancer treatments at the hospital.
"We basically give out gas cards for visits to the clinic depending on how far away they come, how many times they come," Comito said. "We started a material hardship fund where we're actually giving grocery money to people who are impacted."
The donation will also help cover pharmacy co-pays and future medical needs the children may need after their chemotherapy treatments.
"If you get chemotherapy when you're very, very little, you'll have dental problems when you're 8, 10, 12, 14 years old," she said. "And so we can do something toward those dental costs, which often aren't covered by your insurance."
Comito said the funds from Paige's Butterfly Run have increasingly grown and now make up a significant portion of the funds used to make things a bit easier for parents.
"Initially, the checks were only $15,000 - $20,000 a year," Comito said. "But it would go to mostly just family support; financial support would be the biggest thing. And then by the time I got here in 2016, I think it was raising, classically, about $100,000 - $150,000 a year."
Comito said the charity's contributions added up so much over the years it also helps fund cancer research.
