Since it's inception, Kelly's Foundation has directly helped hundreds of patients. The Foundations gives directly to other charitable organizations that align with Kelly's Foundation's mission.   


Frostburg State University Annual Scholarship - Since 2012, the Kelly Dressler Heflin Foundation Scholarship has supported FSU students whose lives have been touched by cancer. Some recipients have beaten the disease. Others watched as loved ones fought for their lives, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. 

Bringing Hope Home - Kelly's Foundation has partnered with Bringing Hope Home, a non-profit organization that provides unexpected amazingness to local families with cancer through financial and emotional support. Through their Light of Hope Family Grant Program, they offer a one-time grant to pay essential household bills for families with cancer. They directly pay household bills to ensure families are able to stay in their homes, with a secure roof over their heads, utilities on, phones working, and food on the table while they are dealing with cancer.  Since their inception in 2008, they have paid over $2 million dollars in essential household bills for over 1,800 local families with cancer in the Greater Philadelphia Area.  

The Abramson Cencer Center (Joan Karnell Supportive Care Program at Pennsylvania Hospital) and the Johns Hopkins Kimmell Cancer Center.  Kelly was treated at both of these cancer centers and both have patient and family support centers that provide programs and grants for patients to to aid in daily living expenses such as transportation, childcare, rent subsidies, groceries, medical copays, and many other simple luxuries that most of us take for granted. Since 2013, Kelly's Foundation has helped fund the "Walk-About" Program at Joan Karnell.  Walkabout combines mindfulness skills training with easy mindful walking outside, the use of digital photography and collage-making. It is open to patients and caregivers.  

Here is just a sample of patients who have been helped:

  • A man with blood cancer who needed help paying for his child's daycare while he was undergoing his treatments; Kelly's Foundation was able to pay for a month of daycare fees so as to keep the child in a structured, nurturing setting while his father was in the hospital.
  • A woman with cervical cancer received help purchasing hearing aids after losing her hearing due to chemotherapy.
  • A woman with Lymphoma was able to purchase a wig after losing her hair during chemotherapy.
  • A man with head and neck cancer received financial aid to help cover transportation costs to get to and from treatments as well as assistance paying for his dietary nutritional supplements
  • Another woman being treated for breast cancer is the mother of young children. She recently lost her job and was forced to move in with relatives.  She received assistance to pay for daily living expenses.


What our beneficiaries are saying:
Click here to read a letter directly from a patient who received funds to help pay down her medical treatments associated with her cancer.  


"The funds provided by the Kelly D. Heflin Foundation assist with critical needs of our patients, such as transportation, food, wigs, medications and co-pays, which in turn allows the patient to focus on their health and wellness, and alleviates some of the stress of a cancer diagnosis. These funds are invaluable in ways both big and small and we greatly appreciate the generosity of the donors."


Mary Pat Lynch, CRNP, MSN, AOCN, Cancer Center Administrator
Pennsylvania Hospital


"In receipt of your very generous gift. Your investment in our patients and families is inspiring and assures that the very patients and families that Kelly was passionate about will still be taken care of by her. Thank you again."

Michael C. Hibler, MPA
Sr. Associate Director of Development 
The Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center

"I thought you and the Girl Scouts would like to know that your total gift is now assisting an older local woman who is battling cancer.  Your gift is helping with the rent, electricity and groceries.  The patient is so very appreciative of the support and we hope she is going to recover.  This financial assistance helps relieve her stress over financial challenges."

Ron Secrist, President
Boulder Community Hospital Foundation​

WHO WE HELP