Ramona Graffeo is an Alabama Bright Light helping women fight ovarian cancer
The Laura Crandall Brown Foundation Memorial Garden honors women lost to GYN cancer. (Lloyd E. Beard)
Ramona Graffeo wakes up every day ready to fight.
As the executive director of the Laura Crandall Brown Foundation, she has taken to heart its threefold mission: to raise money for research and early detection of ovarian cancer, increase awareness about cancer, and provide emotional and financial support to women and their families through treatment.
“We achieve this mission by raising money through events like our Taste of Teal Gala and our Get Busy Fighting Golf Tournament,” Graffeo said. “We directly work with clinics and specifically with the social workers at those clinics. We find women that are having to deal with all of the financial burdens on top of cancer treatment, so we are there to help them. And we help women of all races and backgrounds.”
Ramona Graffeo of the Laura Crandall Brown Foundation is an Alabama Bright Light from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
The Laura Crandall Brown Foundation began in 2009 when 25-year-old Laura Crandall Brown died from ovarian cancer. Her loving family wanted to establish the foundation to preserve her life and legacy of helping other women.
The past couple of years have added to the challenge. Graffeo and her staff refused to allow the COVID-19 health pandemic to dim their efforts.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been challenged in different ways,” she said. “Many women either had to delay treatment or abandon it altogether. However, our donors have been over the top and extremely generous. They have come to the aid of these women during these tough times.”
To manage all the various programs the Laura Crandall Brown Foundation offers, Graffeo depends on the generosity of corporations like the Alabama Power Foundation.
“We love the Alabama Power Foundation,” she said. “Throughout the years, they have supported us through grants and many other ways. We have also helped many women employees of Alabama Power in the past.”
Graffeo’s journey with cancer is close to home. She grew up in a family that has experienced various types of cancer.
“On a personal level, I have a lot of cancer in my family; my mother, my father and my sisters. So it brings me great joy to see how we help these women every day,” Graffeo said. “I chose to be in the nonprofit world because I wanted to give back. I have enjoyed seeing the progress we are making and seeing these women no longer worry about their utility bills so they can focus on treatment. It’s incredibly gratifying.”
For more information, visit www.thinkoflaura.org.
