Leominster’s Dawn Deluca named a ‘Game Changer’
‘Not only is (Dawn) a selfless health care worker, but her willingness to share her story with so many people helps spread awareness of the Foundation throughout New England.’
– Joe Andruzzi
LEOMINSTER » City resident Dawn Deluca has been named one of the Joe Andruzzi Foundation’s 2021 “Game Changers” — an annual honor awarded to supporters who have made a critical difference and impact on the Foundation and the patients it serves, according to an announcement from the Foundation.
The Joe Andruzzi Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to providing help, hope, and a reason to smile, for New England cancer patients and their families by contributing financial support when it is needed most, according to the Foundation.
Because patients and families must often devote all of their energy and resources toward battling cancer, the Foundation helps alleviate financial and emotional stress by providing grants to assist with rent/mortgage payments, utilities and other household expenses. This relief allows the Foundation’s grant recipients to focus on their fight against cancer and not on the financial distress that comes with it.
Deluca is a registered nurse who was also a Joe Andruzzi Foundation patient recipient in 2016 after being diagnosed with cancer. Since then, she has embodied the Foundation’s pay it forward spirit.
Deluca has run the Falmouth Road Race three times as a Team JAF participant and has recruited many runners to join the team. She inspired Gardner High School athletes to host a fundraiser for the Foundation and lent her voice as an official JAF Patient Inspiration to runners and donors by sharing her cancer journey and the Foundation’s impact with others.
Jen Andruzzi, the Foundation’s president and CEO, said the Foundation chooses its honorees based on the exceptional commitment they’ve demonstrated in helping JAF reach its goals each year.
“Dawn is an incredible role model and ambassador for the JAF mission. Not only is she a selfless health care worker, but her willingness to share her story with so many people helps spread awareness of the Foundation throughout New England,” Andruzzi said.
Deluca was one of six honorees slated to accept the award during the Joe Andruzzi Foundation’s virtual gala, hosted online Oct. 21.
To learn more about the Foundation and its annual Gala, visit www.joeandruzzifoundation.org.