Benefit for local woman set for Lindsey Firehall
PUNXSUTAWNEY — A benefit will be held this weekend to help a local woman, Dana Brooks, with her battle against cancer.
Anita Zurenda, Brooks’ sister, said they are hosting a fundraiser from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Lindsey Firehall in Punxsutawney.
“She’s been battling stage 3 and 4 ovarian cancer since April 2021,” Zurenda said. “She went to the doctor for gallstones, and then she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.”
The fundraiser is a dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce with a salad, bread and butter, a choice of dessert and a drink. Dinners will be available to dine in or carry out. The cost for dinner is $10 for ages 12 and older, $5 for ages six to 11 and free for children five and under.
There will also be a basket raffle, and various items will be sold. Raffle tickets are $1 each or $10 for 12, and tickets for a wooden wishing well will go at $20. Those who want to help but can’t make the dinner can donate to a GoFundMe at https:// gofund.me/9ce71013.
All of the proceeds will help with Brooks’ hospital bills and travel expenses. She is being treated at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Brooks is a resident of Punxsutawney. She and husband Thomas have two daughters, Jade and Cherokee. She has been an employee of Sheetz in Punxsutawney for nine years. Her GoFundMe page describes her as a lover of nature who enjoys photographing the wildlife that comes into her garden. She also loves traveling, and she and her family had planned on relocating to the upper West Coast someday.
She began chemotherapy for her cancer in July of last year, then
underwent surgery. She has since recovered from that, but treatments are expect to continue through November.
On the GoFundMe page, Brooks’ husband, Thomas, said her life is no longer in danger, but the financial situation remains a struggle, as bills pile up and Brooks remains unable to return to work.
“The insurance is indeed taking the brunt of the costs, but copays, deductibles and percentages are adding up,” he wrote. “Our portion of the bills became 4-digits easily.” Despite a payment agreement with the hospital, out-ofpocket amounts from insurance reset with the new year and the hospital bill tripled. “It has become more than my house payment, more than we can handle.”
As of Thursday, the GoFundMe had raised $1,910 of its $15,000 goal.