skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Ohio's milestone moment for women in government; Price growth ticked up in November as inflation progress stalls; NE public housing legal case touches on quality of life for vulnerable renters; California expert sounds alarm on avian flu's threat to humans, livestock.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Debates on presidential accountability, the death penalty, gender equality, Medicare and Social Security cuts; and Ohio's education policies highlight critical issues shaping the nation's future.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Many rural counties that voted for Trump also cast ballots against school vouchers and to protect abortion rights, Pennsylvania's Black mayors are collaborating to unite their communities and unique methods are being tried to address America's mental health crisis.

Keeping Childhood Cancer from Crushing a Family's Budget

play audio
Play

Friday, December 9, 2022   

As Americans make end-of-year donations to their favorite causes, those that help children with cancer and their families say these households need support in difficult situations. A Minnesota-based group says inflation underscores the need.

The Pinky Swear Foundation has grown into a national philanthropic organization that will soon celebrate its 20th anniversary. The group's marketing manager, Jake Leif, said it's important that people also support cancer research and medical-debt initiatives, but groups such as his fill in the gaps in areas that might not receive as much attention when a family goes through this type of journey.

"When the child has cancer, life carries on," he said, "and so [there's] a lot of gas and grocery bills, rent, mortgages, car payments."

Leif said it makes it harder when a parent has to pause working, and the total cost of a child's cancer journey can exceed $800,000. He added that inflation has affected everyone's wallets this year, and these families are no exception. Support from the foundation, including individual donations, is designed to remove the pressure of those daily expenses.

While platforms such as GoFundMe are another good tool, Leif said they can only do so much when a situation quickly overwhelms a family's finances.

"We hear from families all the time that they had a beautiful nest egg, they had a healthy, healthy savings account," he said, "and childhood cancer came through and just blew it down."

The organization also will observe national Pinky Swear Day on Sunday. That proclamation originated from action in 2014 by then-Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton. It reflects how the group was inspired when a 9-year-old boy named Mitch, who was diagnosed with cancer, gave his savings to families on the pediatric oncology floor where he was receiving treatment. Before his death, he asked his father to promise to carry out this mission moving forward.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
David Bintz' brother, Robert Bintz, was also released from prison this year and was represented by the Great North Innocence Project. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The Wisconsin Innocence Project is ending the year with some key victories including helping with the release of two men who each spent decades in pri…


Health and Wellness

play sound

By Dawn Attride for Sentient.Broadcast version by Shanteya Hudson for California News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collabora…

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri has stepped up to fight childhood hunger by providing food aid over the summer for kids who rely on school meals for nutrition. The U.S…


A 2022 study of evictions in Lancaster County by the University of Nebraska College of Law found a high level of non-compliance in moving forward with such proceedings when tenants lacked counsel. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The public housing agency serving Nebraska's largest city faces legal action amid claims of poor living conditions for a tenant with disabilities…

Social Issues

play sound

Five years ago, Minnesota established a program to bolster well-being metrics for children of color and young Native American kids. Today, fund …

Out-of-pocket costs increased by $1700 on average for older Coloradans with Medicare Advantage coverage, plans claiming to limit health costs for people living on fixed incomes. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Between 2013 and 2022, health care spending in Colorado surged by 139% to nearly $30 billion, according to a new analysis by the Center for Improving …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Indianapolis is expanding its innovative Clinician-Led Community Response program, offering Hoosiers a new approach to handling mental health crises…

Social Issues

play sound

Worker-owned cannabis cooperatives in Rhode Island are striving to help those affected by the war on drugs. State law mandates at least six retail …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021