A ‘simple gift’ for Sun City cancer patient: A clean home for the holidays
When Marie Rafferty, 84, was diagnosed with her fourth bout of cancer in July, she knew she’d have to focus all her energy on fighting it.
Rafferty, a retired administrative assistant at IBM who lived in Illinois and Connecticut before moving to Sun City, said she had an amazing support system in her sons, sister and grandchildren.
Her friends brought meals. A sister did her shopping. Another visited from North Carolina to accompany her to the daylong chemotherapy treatments. But Rafferty said “cleaning the house was the last thing on my mind.”
She couldn’t go to grocery stores to get cleaning supplies because she had to stay away from crowds where germs could spread.
In August, Rafferty said, her social worker told her about a program called “Cleaning for a Reason,” a national nonprofit that matches people with cancer with one of 1,200 participating local cleaning services to provide free home cleaning.
“Cleaning for a Reason” started in 2017 and has helped 38,485 patients, according to the website. The service began when Texas-based Buckets & Bows Maid Service owner Debbie Sardone quoted the price for a cleaning to a potential client, and the woman declined, saying “I can’t afford that now — I’m in cancer treatment,” before hanging up.
Sardone, the daughter of a cancer survivor, made it company policy to provide free home cleaning whenever her company encountered a woman battling cancer.
Rafferty, a self-described neat-freak who always took pride in a well-organized home, applied for the program.
“I am a pain in the neck as far as cleaning up and straightening up,” she admitted. “I also knew there was not much I could do about it” after the diagnosis.
A few months later the “A-team”— a pair of cleaners from Two Maids & A Mop on Hilton Head whose names both start with “A” — showed up at Rafferty’s door.
“They were amazing,” Rafferty said. “They cleaned every floor, bathroom, piece of woodwork and the kitchen in two hours.”
When the “A-team” was done, Rafferty’s home was as clean as she’d always kept it.
“It gave me such a lift,” she said.
Matthew and Susana Nikravesh, newcomers to the island and the owners of Two Maids & A Mop, said their participation in the program gives “a simple gift” many don’t think about when it comes to fighting life-changing illnesses.
“Cancer is something that kind of touches everyone,” Susana Nikravesh said. “When you’re in the thick of it and you’re doing chemo, having one less thing to worry about is such a relief.”
Nikravesh said Two Maids & A Mop applied to be a part of the national program, and that it gets assigned families in the area to help. The company absorbs the cost of two separate home cleanings that last about two hours each. The donations are valued at around $165 per cleaning.
Rafferty is looking forward to her second cleaning in the coming weeks. She has made progress after her chemotherapy, attending her first social gathering in months on Sunday to celebrate her 84th birthday.
This story was originally published December 25, 2019 at 4:45 AM.
