August 5, 2005

Collecting cans for a cure

While many of her peers are enjoying a summer of leisure, 12-year-old Meaghan Finn (left) is doing her part to help find a cure for breast cancer. The seventh grader wanted to make a difference in the lives of women with cancer after her mother's friend and a next-door neighbor were diagnosed with breast cancer.

She started her philanthropic venture by collecting soda cans and bottles for recycling during Breast Cancer Awareness Month last October. Meaghan has donated almost $800 from her recycling efforts to the Gillette Center for Women's Cancer.

Meaghan chose to donate the money to the MGH because both of the cancer patients she knows personally receive their treatment at the MGH. Meaghan's aunt, Susan Finn, RN, also happens to be part of the nursing staff at the Cancer Center.

To further her involvement in the battle against breast cancer, Meaghan and other youth in her hometown of Woburn, are in the planning stages to create the town's first youth-sponsored breast cancer walk in October. Meaghan envisions that the event will be completely sponsored and run by the youth in her community.