More than 3,400 people with cancer live in the Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts; CC was founded in 1999 to fill an empty niche: to provide a wide variety of support services for patients fighting the high stresses sense of isolation, fears and depressions accompanying their medical treatment, which hard-pressed medical programs cannot address. CC responds to patient interests and needs, offering to facilitate whatever will help. Simple stress-reduction is one of the highest priorities. In 2005, CC provided over 300 programs and support group sessions, with nearly 200 people served each week. In addition to useful information and reassuring networking among patients with similar kinds of cancer, there is a smorgasbord of opportunities to take patients’ minds off their troubles and the rigors of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation: meditation, massage, knitting, quilting, aqua-aerobics, Reiki sessions, hawk-watches, star-gazing, and on and on. Access to this kind of emotional and social sustenance can mean the difference between life and death. All programs are free of charge, so plenty of philanthropic support is needed. Won’t you help?