Are you wondering what you can do to help your friend or family member who is battling cancer?
Here are some ideas….
- Mail them cards through postal mail on a regular basis so they know you are thinking of them
- Offer to set up and organize a Meal Train for them for several months (don’t take “no” for an answer, it is not about the food, it is about the visit when the person delivers the meal along with the hug and encouraging smile at the door, cancer treatment can consist of many long days at home alone, meal deliveries provide the cancer patient a visit from a friend or family member at the end of the day and something to look forward to)
- Call often just to see how they are doing (note: If you call and get the message machine just leave a message saying you have been thinking of them and wishing them well and end the message with, “You don’t need to call me back, I just wanted you to know that I am thinking of you”. This way they are not overwhelmed with feeling like they have to return a lot of phone calls
- Offer to clean their house once a week or once every two weeks
- Offer to mow their lawn or weed flower beds once a week or every two weeks
- Offer to pick up their groceries and deliver them to their home (paying for their groceries would be great too, as cancer treatment can be unbelievably expensive and they may have a lot of medical bills coming in now)
- Offer to do their laundry
- Offer to babysit their kids
- Offer to water their plants
- Offer to wash their car
- Purchase them a manicure or pedicure gift certificate
- Purchase them a massage or facial gift certificate
- Purchase them a dinner gift certificate to local restaurant
- Purchase them an overnight or weekend getaway at a local hotel or bed & breakfast
So think about what you could help with and contact the cancer patient that you love and make some offers of help and tell them they have to accept at least one or two of your offers…