Detective Sgt. Scott Mick and Detective Chase Askounes, St. Clair Police Department, present a check to Dr. Rashid Abdu and Gina Marinelli, senior gift, officer, Mercy Health Foundation Mahoning Valley, to go toward the Joanie’s Program at the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center (JACBCC). (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP — Police Chief Brian McKenzie and all the officers of the St. Clair Township Police Department are formally issuing a challenge to all law enforcement agencies, fire departments, EMS departments and any other first responders in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties to meet or beat their donation to the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center (JACBCC).

The challenge was issued Friday morning following the presentation of a $300 check by Detective Sgt. Scott Mick and Detective Chase Askounes to Dr. Rashid Abdu and Gina Marinelli, senior gift officer, Mercy Health Foundation Mahoning Valley, who accepted on behalf of the JACBCC.

Any departments wanting to participate in the challenge can contact Marinelli at gina–marinelli@mercy.com or by phone at 330-729-1187.

This is the department’s first time issuing this type of a challenge, so McKenzie is hoping it raises as much money as possible through others chipping in. All the funds raised will go directly to the JACBCC for the Joanie’s Promise Program.

Joanie’s Promise is a program that stemmed from a promise Abdu made to his late wife before she passed away from an aggressive form of breast cancer in 1993.

Abdu said he wanted to thank the department for its donation to the program, which is used to help women who have no means to get the care that they need.

He noted that when Joanie was diagnosed, they had to travel to Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Youngstown for treatment, but women without the financial means to travel would often end up dying of breast cancer from lack of needed medical care.

“Before Joanie died I promised her that someday we would have a comprehensive breast care center in Youngstown that would take care of all women regardless of their race, color, ethnicity or economic status and they would not have to run to any other town or anywhere and they would get the best care that they could get anywhere in the country,” Abdu said.

He went on to say that they succeeded in that promise because of people like the officers with their donation and that the JACBCC is now considered one of the finest in the United States and that the center’s mission is that no woman should ever die from breast cancer because she is poor.

“We are so happy and so grateful for the help of the community, and your help today exemplifies that kindness, generosity and compassion for all the women in our communities and we thank you,” Abdu said.

When asked if he knew how many women the center had helped, Abdu responded “thousands.”

Marinelli explained that Joanie’s Promise provides mammograms for women who are low income or uninsured, provides community educators who go into rural or urban neighborhoods to educate women on breast cancer, provides transportation to and from the facility so women can get the treatment they need and more.

Abdu said the program also has the mammovan for women who have no transportation. The $1 million van which provides mammograms by going to community centers, schools, churches and libraries made its maiden trip to East Liverpool.

He again reiterated that the program’s goal is that no women should die from breast cancer due economic reasons.

He told the officers “We cannot allow that and that is what you guys are doing is helping to end that. It takes a village to do a good thing and now you are a part of the village.”

In addition to raising funds for Joanie’s Promise and challenging other first responders to do the same, the St. Clair Township Police Department is showing its support for the fight against breast cancer by wearing pink badges during the month of October and selling breast cancer awareness T-shirts that say “No one fights alone” to raise money for a local resident that is dealing with breast cancer.

The T-shirts sell for $20 and can be purchased at the St. Clair Police Department. All the proceeds from the shirts will go to the resident with breast cancer.

Askounes said that the police department does this because they have people who have dealt with breast cancer in their families and people near and dear to them in the community dealing with it.

Askounes, because we have people here who have dealt with breast cancer in their own families and there are always people in the community that are near and dear to us which is why we do a t shirt sale they get all the proceeds from that.

McKenzie said the department does their own thing if someone in the community is struggling with breast cancer or cancer in general.

Every October we sell T-shirts, and we present that money when all the shirts are sold,” McKenzie said. He also noted the department is tight with funds this year as they haven’t done a lot of fundraising and is hoping others will also donate to help people out.