more than a clean house

Philadelphia based Professional Cleaning Services Inc. has become a corporate sponsor for Cleaning for a Reason, a Texas-based nonprofit that seeks to support women undergoing cancer treatment by providing no-cost home cleaning services.

Philadelphia-based Professional Cleaning Services Inc. has become a corporate sponsor for Cleaning for a Reason, a Texas-based nonprofit that seeks to support women undergoing cancer treatment by providing no-cost home cleaning services.

The arrangement got its start last November, when PBS’ PresidentMatthew Herkins and Vice President of Operations Michael McCormackattended an industry trade show in Florida and learned about Cleaning for a Reason.

“When a man has cancer, the wife is taking care of them or the daughter’s taking care of them, but when a woman does, she’s the mom or the daughter or the wife,” said Patty Hilferty, sales manager for PBS.

Since, PBS has worked to recruit several area residential cleaning companies to also team up with Cleaning for a Reason. Clean Busters Inc. from Newtown Square, Bucket & Broom in West Chester, PYT Cleaning Service in West Chester and Servicio Fresca in West Chester have all pledged to clean the homes of two patients a month for four months each at no cost to the home owners.

“It’s just something we wanted to do to give back to the community,” Hilferty said.

Maid services interested in participating in Cleaning for a Reason can do so by filling out a form online.

Five years later

The Kelly Rooney Foundation recently marked its five-year anniversary as a foundation and celebrated hitting the $1 million mark in its fundraising efforts by recommitting to finding a cure for breast cancer.

The foundation is a nonprofit organization named after Kelly Rooney, wife of Sean Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers    ownership family, who passed away in 2006 from breast cancer. Kelly Rooney’s wish was to create a foundation to work to eradicate breast cancer so that none of her four daughters would have to face the disease.

“Kelly was a very high-spirited, very energetic, very glass-half-full type of person. She accepted her death with a huge amount of dignity, and was really quite honestly not afraid of dying. What she was afraid of was this disease affecting one or all of her daughters,” said Sean Rooney.

During the past five years, the Kelly Rooney Foundation has donated $500,000 to the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania    and breastcancer.org. In July, the Kelly Rooney Foundation renewed its agreement to the Abramson Center to donate $100,000 a year for the next three years.

In addition, the foundation pledged $50,000 a year to breastcancer.org for the next three years.

“As part of the funding from the Rooney Foundation, we will be examining families with multiple cases of breast cancer in which the reason for the cancers is unknown. We will be looking for new types of genetic susceptibility in those families,” said Dr. Susan Domchek of the Abramson Cancer Center.

Domchek said while researchers know there are genes that increase the risk of the development of breast and ovarian cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2, the majority of the families that have clusters of breast cancer or early breast cancer don’t have those mutations.

As part of the approach funded by the Rooney Foundation, the Abramson Cancer Center has been able to look at large numbers of genes at once and examine changes in their DNA that might have caused the cancer.

Wii bowl

Devereux, a nonprofit behavioral health-care organization, formed a partnership with Best Buy to host a Wii bowling tournament at its Kanner Center in West Chester on July 15. Best Buy employees brought Wii consoles to PA Children’s IDD Services Gymnasium.

“We are very grateful to Best Buy for enjoying a few hours of fun with our boys and girls and helping the children to practice a whole host of skills they will use for years to come,” said Melanie Beidler, executive director for Devereux children’s intellectual/developmental disabilities services, in a statement.

Life-saving gift

Skanska USA held its 9th American Red Cross   Blood Drive at its office in Blue Bell. The blood donated could help save more than 60 lives. According to the American Red Cross, every two seconds someone needs a blood transfusion.

In addition to the American Red Cross, Skanska’s Blue Bell office participates in Habitat for Humanity, PhilAbundance, Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

coutesy bizjournals.com