Constellation Brands and Corona wholesalers across North Carolina are once again sponsoring the Corona Cares program to support the mission of the North Carolina Cancer Hospital, the clinical home of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
During November, the Corona Cares program will donate 25 cents of every case of Corona Extra, Corona Light and Corona Premier sold and 100 percent of all donations from paper limes purchased at retail locations and convenience stores throughout the state.
Corona Cares raised more than $250,000 in 2019 for UNC Lineberger’s Comprehensive Cancer Support Program (CCSP), a multidisciplinary program at the N.C. Cancer Hospital dedicated to helping patients, caregivers and families with cancer treatment, recovery and survivorship. The program has raised more than $2.75 million during the past nine years.
The CCSP offers support to patients who experience financial hardships. This can be caused by a range of issues, from the expenses of traveling long distances for appointments at the N.C. Cancer Hospital to missing work while receiving treatment, to the challenges of paying insurance copays while also covering routine monthly costs, such utility bills, rent and groceries.
“It hardly needs to be said, but 2020 has been an unimaginably difficult year,” said Donald Rosenstein, MD, director of CCSP. “We have redoubled our efforts to provide the best possible cancer care for North Carolinians, many of whom are struggling with job losses, financial hardship and even the threat of delays in their cancer care. For the CCSP, this has meant shifting our work almost entirely to telemedicine as a result.”
Rosenstein said the CSSP team has made more than a thousand phone calls to high risk patients and more than doubled the number of patient counseling sessions. The expansion of the telemedicine capacity has made it possible to reach patients in even the most remote parts of North Carolina.
“This is precisely why this year’s Corona Cares campaign is so critical to our mission of serving the people of North Carolina regardless of their ability to pay,” Rosenstein said.