TAMPA, Fla. — SOAR at Moffitt Cancer Center is a nine-week program that helps support breast cancer patients after they recover and transition to survivorship. The program teaches concepts around art, mediation, cooking, yoga and mindfulness.
Ultimately, it strives to address any unique challenges survivors may face.
Diane Riccardi with the Moffitt Cancer Center says they send out a survivorship tool kit to each member when they join. It's meant to help people on their journey — and the program as a whole got a big boost Tuesday by way of a $10,000 donation from The Giving Girls organization.
“The timing is perfect because we were just running out of our money from the Florida Breast Cancer Foundation,” Riccardi said.
The program is open to Moffitt and non-Moffitt individuals. They recruit members from several counties in central Florida. Currently, people from nine different counties are participating. Right now, members are meeting remotely over Zoom.
One of the founders of The Giving Girls group is a breast cancer survivor who received treatment at Moffitt Cancer Center. Rachel Slowey says it's amazing to see doctors volunteering their time to help those going through the post-recovery process. She says being able to make this donation to the program is incredibly special.
“As a breast cancer survivor myself, a lot of things they cover in the program are things I struggled with in my own journey,” Slowey said.
The SOAR program started in 2018. It was created by three Moffitt employees who saw a need for the services. The center is looking to potentially expand the program in the future.