Page 5 - Giving Back Guide - 2015

Costumes for a Cause is a Gulfport- based nonprofit charity that helps local Gulf Coast families battling cancer or leukemia by providing direct financial assistance.
Sharon Hanshaw started Coastal Women for Change after Hurricane Katrina destroyed her beauty salon and her home, leaving her with nowhere to work and nowhere to live. “Everything was gone,” she recalls. “I went to Houston, but I couldn’t stay away. I’m not a sitter so I couldn’t
sit and wait on everything to come along.”
Meetings with elected officials and others got Hanshaw thinking that
an organization was needed. She suggested the name, and in January 2006 Coastal Women for Change was born. Funding from the Twenty-First Century Foundation and Oxfam American provided support. “They found us,” Hanshaw says of the benefactors. “We began with a need to do more than sit. We wanted
to empower people to learn and advocate.”
The group is involved in a wide range of events from mentoring children to appreciation dinners for senior citizens. “Seeing how we help others keeps me motivated,” Hanshaw said, “and I’ve been blessed to meet people who can help.”
JoAn Niceley started Pink Heart Funds after a battle with breast cancer and going through 11 surgeries. “I needed three items that cost $65 each. I have insurance and I bought them,” she recalls, “but many women can not and I wanted to help them.”
A hair stylist, Niceley began Pink Heart Funds to provide wigs, breast prostheses, post-mastectomy bras and lymphedema sleeves to women with any kind of cancer, not just breast cancer. The organization also has Bald & Beautiful classes and WIN — Women’s Inspirational Network support group.
Asked what keeps her fueled for
these efforts, Niceley replied, “I run like the Energizer Bunny, but it’s because of what I went through. I can empathize with others. Our secretary, Holly Bourgeois, and treasurer, Susan Rubio, are also cancer survivors
and understand what it’s like.”
Costumes for a Cause
was founded in 2009 by Julie Bradley of Saucier following the loss of
loved ones and friends
to cancer and witnessing the financial hardships
the illnesses caused. “The last thing anyone fighting cancer or leukemia should have to worry about is how they’re going to pay a bill or put food on the table,” she says. “I wanted
to find a way to help others when fighting what would probably be the biggest fight of their lives.”
While brainstorming with
a group of friends, someone suggested a costume ball to raise funds to help local families battling cancer or leukemia, and Costumes for a Cause was born. The organization continues raising funds with a Halloween ball but also has other events throughout the year, including a huge festival called Spring Mayhem, a sanctioned tennis tournament and a kickball tournament.
“It’s rewarding to see what we can do for families and their gratitude,” Bradley said. “It’s a good feeling. I know from the struggles in my own family how much it means when others care and help.”
Bradley wants to make sure the community knows how crucial sponsors and volunteers are and that Costumes for a Cause appreciates all they do.
Sharon Hanshaw
founder
Coastal Women for Change 228.297.4849 www.cwcbiloxi.org
JoAn Niceley
founder
Pink Heart Funds
228.575.8299 www.pinkheartfunds.org
A Guide To Giving & Volunteering >> www.smliving.net
2015 • Giving Back Guide 5
Julie Bradley
founder/president
Costumes for a Cause 228.861.9270 www.c4acnonprofit.com