SCARSDALE — When Cheryl Rosen's teenage son was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma six years ago, she needed help navigating the complicated and emotional world of cancer treatments.
The Scarsdale woman turned to some friends with the Pediatric Cancer Foundation, a Westchester-based charity that has been around since 1970 and whose motto is to "hold the hand of a child."
"Nobody wants to have cancer, but to see a child is much worse," Rosen said. "Cancer takes an enormous toll on a family. ... The support I got from this organization was amazing."
Rosen, who considers herself "one of the lucky ones" because her son, now 20, is healthy, recently became the group's president.
She assumed the role earlier this month at an executive board meeting that included remarks from a young woman who shared her experiences of having a blood cancer as a child. The group's immediate past president, Stefanie Mittman of Purchase, served two terms and is now chairman of the board.
Since cancer is the leading cause of nonaccidental death in children and government funding is limited, the foundation's overarching goal is to fund research and find cures for cancers affecting children.
But it also addresses pressing needs. Members raised, and donated, roughly $1 million a year in recent years to five hospitals in Westchester, New York City and Long Island.
Donations have gone to research laboratories and chemotherapy centers, and paid for high-tech equipment like surgical video cameras, muscle stimulators, infusion pumps and dissecting consoles.
At Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center, for example, the group this year paid for integrative services such as massage therapy, yoga, acupuncture and nutrition counseling.
"It's not going to some intangible, nebulous field," Rosen said of the donation.
Since the group only has two staffers and does not maintain an office (meetings are held at board members' homes), 90 percent of money raised goes directly to hospitals, said Judith Elkins of Scarsdale, medical liaison and a past president.
"What makes us special, we deal directly with doctors," Elkins said, funding specific needs. "There's so much red tape in the medical field. We avoid all that."
The foundation receives no money from the government or from pharmaceutical companies, but does rely on donors and corporate sponsors for its walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons and gala dinners, among other events.
While the foundation has been successful and Rosen said members won't "give up until we eradicate this disease," growth is among their goals.
"We are at this point, a strong Westchester organization with a Manhattan chapter," Rosen said. "We are looking to develop more of a metropolitan organization. You don't go national in a few days."