Elkins Park-based Breathing Room Foundation, founded by the late Diane Fitzgerald and her husband, Bernie, helps families cope with the realities of cancer, writes Kevin Riordan for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Jenkintown couple started the foundation in 1997. They wanted to channel their experience with the practical assistance they received from family, friends, and even total strangers during Diane’s six-year-long battle with breast cancer into helping others.

This help ranged from meal delivery, rides to soccer practice for their three children and even tree-trimming work.

All the help gave the couple precious respites during their battle with the unrelenting foe by giving them a welcome bit of breathing room.

“We wanted our foundation to recognize families who inspire others by the way they face up to this disease,” said Bernie Fitzgerald.

The foundation serves 1,200 families a year. Its volunteers – more than 500 of them – help families with everyday tasks and give them a sense that they are not alone.

Diane died at age 35 two months after the Breathing Room Foundation began assisting its first client. The foundation continued on as her legacy.

Read more about Breathing Room Foundation at The Philadelphia Inquirer by clicking here.