Our Honorees

Help us find our next deserving breast cancer survivor

On Sept. 27, 2025, we will hold our 15th annual War Against Breast Cancer Raffle-Auction as a fundraiser and donate the proceeds to a deserving breast cancer survivor to help with their lost wages and out-of-pocket medical expenses related to their diagnosis.
We would like to donate the proceeds of the fundraiser to a survivor whom:

  • Lives in Trumbull County and is a U.S. citizen;
  • Has been diagnosed with breast cancer within the past year or is in active treatment;
  • Is between the ages of 18 and 45 years old;
  • Has a financial need due to the breast cancer diagnosis, such as deductibles, copayments, financial hardship due to inability to work, etc.

Do you know a survivor who fits these criteria (regardless of employment status or health insurance coverage)? If so, please provide her or him with a copy of our Application for Assistance (see link below). The deadline for the application is April 15.

Application for Assistance

Our Inspiration

Meet our 2024 fundraiser beneficiary

Joyce Hurst of West Farmington

We are honored to introduce breast cancer survivor Joyce Cox Hurst of West Farmington as our 2024 fundraiser beneficiary.
Joyce, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in November 2023, has been married to Martin Hurst since 1988. They have two adult daughters, Kayla Dodge and Samantha Blake, and five grandchildren, including Southington Local students Brody, 8, Brynlee, 9, Cameron, 9, and Brooklynn, 12, and McDonald High School student Landon, 15.
Some of you may recognize Joyce because she always has been the helper.
She’s been the team mom when Martin was coaching sports, a loyal school volunteer and one of the go-to volunteers at Southington Christian Church, where she helped in the nursery, made food for celebrations as well as funerals and organized the church’s social activities until her cancer diagnosis.
Over the past four years, Joyce has made herself an integral part of our organization, volunteering a little more each year. She and Anita Sidwell were the wonderful ladies behind last year’s bake sale table.
Joyce is so accustomed to being the helper, it took some convincing for her to allow us to help her.
As a medical biller for Steward Medical Group, which owns Trumbull Memorial Hospital, Joyce believed most of her medical expenses related to her breast cancer would be covered by her health insurance.
“I was told from the beginning that if I stay with Steward’s (in-network) providers, I would have no balance,” Joyce said. “That’s not true. I’m finding out the hard way.”
The first bills came soon after her lumpectomy surgery, which included removing all of the lymph nodes on her left side. Even though she had the procedure at Trumbull Memorial, the pathology and anesthesia were not performed by in-network providers and were not fully paid by insurance.
Turns out, Trumbull Memorial does not offer – nor does it contract with any local providers that offer – oncology or chemotherapy. That means Joyce’s oncologist appointments at the Hope Center for Cancer Care and her chemotherapy treatments are billed at much higher out-of-network prices. Even worse, the $620 booster shot that Joyce needed after every chemotherapy treatment to keep her white blood cell count from dropping dangerously low wasn’t covered by insurance at all – Joyce was billed for the entire cost.
“The bills are all starting to come in now for what we thought would be covered and it is not,” Joyce said. “It is really starting to hit home now. You deal with having this horrible disease and now reality hits with the bills.”
Joyce faced thousands of dollars in medical bills.
The good news is that Joyce’s cancer treatments were successful – hooray! 🎉🎉 – and our organization and our amazing supporters raised enough money through the 14th annual War Against Breast Cancer Raffle-Auction on Sept. 28, 2024, at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds in Cortland, Ohio, to help Joyce pay off her medical bills.
When we presented Joyce with the donation, she cried many happy tears and said that she was so relieved. Thank you to everyone who had a part in helping Joyce.
Thank you for your support!

Previous honorees

2011: Beth Ann Vanek, diagnosed in 2011 with Triple Negative Breast Cancer

2012: Debbie West, diagnosed in 2012 with Stage 4 Triple Negative Breast Cancer

2013: Cyndi DeMoss, diagnosed in 2008 with Stage 4 breast cancer

2014:  Amy Gardner Turek, diagnosed in 2009 with Stage 4 breast cancer. She died in 2020. 

2015: Heather Booth, diagnosed in 2015 with Stage 2 breast cancer

2016: Erica Immel, diagnosed in 2016 with Stage 3 breast cancer

2017: Alexandria Baker Lipinski, diagnosed in 2017 with Stage 2 breast cancer 

2018: Jessica Gardner, diagnosed in 2016 with Stage 3 breast cancer while pregnant

2019:  Michelle Tringhese, diagnosed in 2018 with Stage 2 breast cancer

2020: Cortney Johns, diagnosed in 2019 with Stage 3 breast cancer

2021: Rachel Elliot, diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in 2020 that has evolved into Stage 4

2022: Amanda Sharps-Martin, diagnosed in 2021 with Stage 2 breast cancer

2023: Jenifer Harris, diagnosed in 2022 with Stage I breast cancer (see more below)

 

 

 

Meet 2023 Honoree Jenifer Harris

The 13th Annual War Against Breast Cancer Raffle-Auction was held on Sept. 30, 2023, to help breast cancer survivor Jenifer Harris of Cortland. With your support, we not only helped Jenifer pay her out-of-pocket medical bills but we also were able to help offset the income she lost while attending her treatments.

Read more about Jenifer’s journey below. 

Jenifer, who was diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer in August 2022, is a 48-year-old mother of six children with three teenagers still at home: Mason, 35, Kody, 34, Seth,16, Tyler, 16, Remi, 14, and her guardian angel baby, Joshua.
The 1992 Maplewood High School graduate has undergone two surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and two hospital stays due to side effects from her treatments. 

Jenifer, who works as a part-time phlebotomist at Warren Medical Group, has exhausted her paid time off and isn’t eligible for paid family medical leave, which means she doesn’t receive a paycheck when she must miss work.

Read more —->

 

Jenifer’s medical bills and significantly reduced paycheck already have taken a toll on the family, which moved into its first family home three months before Jenifer’s cancer diagnosis.

The family has cut as many expenses as they can. Despite having three teenagers, they now use a single car for transportation and temporarily disconnected their phone service to pay the electric bill earlier this year. 

Jenifer’s husband Steve, who is a truck driver at The Anderson-DuBose Co. in Lordstown, has picked up as many extra shifts as he can. Jenifer, who continues to struggle with fatigue, neuropathy in her arms and nausea from the hormone blockers she must take for at least the next five years, also has tried to pick up Saturday hours. She hopes to move to full-time if a position becomes available. Until then, the bills keep coming in faster than the paychecks.

 

Read more —->

 

Jenifer worries about how her diagnosis and the family’s financial cutbacks are affecting her youngest children. 

“They are missing out on so much because I got sick,” Jenifer said. “They don’t complain about it ever, but you can tell.” 

 

Read more about Jenifer’s journey in the Tribune Chronicle: “New Dreams” 

From the article: “The (community) support, outpouring and caring — I’m overwhelmed and so blessed over it all,” Jenifer said.

 

How you can help

To help our honoree, you can:

How we select our honorees

Each spring, This Means War Against Breast Cancer contacts hospitals, cancer centers and our network of supporters to identify deserving Trumbull County breast cancer survivors who need financial help. We search for candidates who are between the ages of 18 and 45 years old and have been diagnosed with breast cancer within the past year or are in active treatment, but we will consider any survivor who has a demonstrated financial need.
Candidates must complete an application that provides details about their diagnosis, their personal and family background and about why they need financial help. The applicant’s physician also must complete a form that verifies the candidate’s diagnosis and treatment.
A subcommittee of This Means War’s Board of Directors evaluates each application based on established criteria. The committee then interviews the finalists before making a recommendation to the full seven-member board. The board then discusses and votes on the subcommittee’s recommendation.
Please note that donations and sponsorships do not influence the honoree selection process.