Women's Group Donates $17K to Bring Cancer Trials Home

Cancer patients in Michigan's Upper Peninsula are about to get something that could save their lives and their bank accounts: access to nearly 250 clinical trials right in their hometown.

The Dickinson County 100-Plus Women Who Care just donated $17,000 to train staff at the new Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson Regional Cancer Center in Iron Mountain. Once training wraps up, local patients will have access to 248 different cancer trials without traveling to distant medical centers.

Jill Steckbauer, senior philanthropy officer for the Marshfield Clinic Foundation, explained that most clinical trials depend on donations like this one. The funding will train an oncology pharmacist in specialized cancer drug protocols, many of which are experimental and require specific expertise.

"Once you get staff trained, patients have access to those trials matching them," Steckbauer told the group. "That's why the staff is important."

The timing couldn't be better. The cancer center just finished construction in 2024, adding 8,000 square feet that includes 11 private infusion rooms, five exam rooms, and a private waiting area for radiation patients.

The Ripple Effect

For cancer patients in rural Michigan, this donation means more than convenience. It eliminates hours of driving to Marshfield or other cancer centers in the system, cutting both travel costs and the physical toll of long trips while undergoing treatment.

Clinical trials often offer access to breakthrough treatments before they're widely available. Having local access could mean the difference between trying a promising new therapy or sticking with standard options.

The 100-Plus Women Who Care model makes this kind of impact possible through simple math: members gather four times a year, three nonprofits present, and everyone donates $100 to the winner. Since starting, the Dickinson County group has given away more than $840,000 across 40 meetings.

That's 840 individual $100 checks that added up to nearly a million dollars in community impact, proving that collective giving turns modest donations into transformative change.