NOBLESVILLE — Cheers and applause roared throughout the room as the $15,000 goal towards a second mammography machine was reached and bypassed at the 25th Annual Women Helping Women Gala on Oct. 20.
Women Helping Women is a women’s health task force that was founded in 1988 and helps provide women with funds for mammograms and other related services. Since then, a fundraising dinner has been held every year to raise money to go towards helping women receive needed medical care.
Allyson Smith, executive director for Hancock Health Foundation shared in a letter that in 2022 alone, Women Helping Women funded 44 screening mammograms, 34 diagnostic mammograms, 18 ultrasounds, 25 clinical breast exams, 10 bone density scans and 24 pelvic exams.
One woman who received help from Women Helping Women is Mindy Rigney of Greenfield, who also works at Hancock Health with scheduling. Rigney spoke at the gala last Friday evening about her journey and how the program has helped her.
Rigney said that the numbers of women declining services because of costs seems to rise almost on a daily basis.
“It really hurts me to hear those women tell me they can’t afford to have the test done and they just want to skip it,” said Rigney in her speech. “They have no idea there are programs out there like Women Helping Women that will help them pay for it, even if they have insurance.”
Rigney said that while Women Helping Women helps fund services, it still can take weeks to get tests done due to there only being one mammogram machine available, which also broke right before she had to get tested.
“To the patient whose scared and worried she has cancer a week is a lifetime,” Rigney said.
For Rigney, the doctors found a mass had formed, which led her to have a lumpectomy. Testing had later revealed she was genetically predisposed to breast cancer, so she decided to have a double mastectomy on Oct. 6.
Rigney said the surgery went well and she was lucky to have met her deductible with the help from Women Helping Women, which also helped cover some complications down the road and chemotherapy, which isn’t cheap Rigney said.
‘It was definitely a journey but I couldn’t have asked for better support…” Rigney said.
“Breast cancer isn’t for the weak, it’s a fight. Women Helping Women helped me win that fight and I can never say thank you enough for that,” said Rigney, finishing her speech and walking back to her seat. The crowd stood and applauded Rigney.
“Everybody needs support. Those moments are scary…” said Jennifer Bannon, Rigney’s best friend who also attended the gala. “Support for anybody is absolutely monumental.”
The evening consisted of a silent auction and live auction, where the proceeds went towards a second mammography machine that can help reduce wait times and increase capacity for the women’s clinic.
According to the website where attendees could view and bid on silent auction items, with 136 donations, $18,850 was raised to go towards the new machine.
“It’s just a wonderful program. The more awareness they get, the more donations they get,” Rigney said. “They really need another mammogram machine. I sat there and I watched it break and I had to wait that week to get my biopsy again. We don’t want people to do that. Nobody mentally wants to go through that.”
