The Sunshine Fund Provides Lifesaving Surgery

Birthday parties. Opening gifts on Christmas morning. Family vacations. 

These are milestone days Jennifer Jennings could have missed if not for the Sunshine Fund.

Jennings, a fixed income sales assistant with SouthState Duncan Williams, received a serious diagnosis right before the holiday season in 2021. She recalls the initial feelings of shock when she heard her doctor confirm she had cancer. 

“I was numb from the unknowns. I did not have breast cancer on my bingo card,” she says.

On top of the diagnosis, Jennings faced a ticking clock. Her cancer was contained, but barely.

“If I didn’t have treatment, we may not be having a conversation today,” Jennings says. 

Being diagnosed at the end of the year made the timeline more difficult to navigate. There were only four weeks to consult with surgeons, come up with insurance premiums and make a deposit to schedule surgery.

“I was overwhelmed physically, emotionally and financially. I had nowhere to turn,” Jennings says.

How the Sunshine Fund Stepped In

That's when Jennings remembered the day she heard about the Sunshine Fund, which exists to help employees in difficult financial situations when time is of the essence. She applied for funds to alleviate the mounting medical costs and book the life-saving surgery. 

“At the time I thought ‘this is so cool,’ never even considering that I might need a grant one day myself,” Jennings recalls.

Jennings credits timely assistance from Ruth Brito, executive assistant and Sunshine Fund coordinator, to helping her expedite her application. “She was an angel on the phone helping me,” she says.

With the financial burden eased, Jennings could then turn her focus to healing. She underwent successful surgery in February 2022, with doctors removing cancer from her breasts and lymph nodes. 

It wasn’t until she was on the road to recovery that her oncologist told her the gravity of her situation. If she hadn’t received funding so swiftly, Jennings wouldn’t have been able to book an operating room until months later and the cancer would have spread to the rest of her body. Jennings feels she might not be alive today if not for the swift action of her medical team and the Sunshine Fund. 

Looking Ahead

Today, she is cancer-free, but will be on daily preventative maintenance medication for 5 years.

Jennings is thankful not only for the Sunshine Fund, but also her cancer being caught in time on a routine mammogram. She encourages other women not to skip screenings and to be proactive about their health.

On the other side of a cancer diagnosis, Jennings says family birthdays “hit a little different now” and are even more cause for celebration. She is grateful to be around for her sons’, friends’ and, of course, her own birthday parties.