Healing with Hope: Mooresville woman’s journey through cancer inspires her work

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — A Mooresville resident is competing in the Mrs. International pageant this weekend and will be sharing a mission close to her heart.

Channel 9′s Elsa Gillis spoke with her and with those she’s touched through her work.

“I got diagnosed with cancer a couple years ago and I felt very alone,” Jennie Raff told Gillis.

The breast cancer diagnosis for Raff was devastating and isolating.

“Even when you have a lot of support, I had a lot of family, a ton of friends surrounded me and were there for me, but knowing this one stranger who had gone through it herself -- took the time and the care to put together something like that, and it was all self-care items -- it did go really far for me,” Raff said.

The Greenville, South Carolina resident connected with Mooresville, North Carolina resident Phaedra Pistone, who sent her a “Healing with Hope” box in the mail. They’re full of self-care items and tokens of encouragement.

The boxes are meant to support those fighting breast cancer, which is something Pistone has battled not once, but twice.

“I just remember sitting at that table thinking like, do I scream, do I shout or run out? Like what am I -- like what’s going on? And also was like, am I going to die?” Pistone said.

She received a similar gift during her own battle. Now, she’s now sent out 100 boxes to people in over 30 states.

Both women are now cancer free.

Pistone is also Mrs. South Carolina International, and has made the boxes and her message of early detection a huge part of her platform.

“I’ve really just taken that challenge and turned it into something amazing,” she said. “Pageantry has given me such a beautiful platform to share that message. Early detection is key, literally saved my life twice, doing yourself checks.”

Learn more about the Healing with Hope boxes by clicking here.

(WATCH BELOW: ‘No matter what’: NC mother of 5 battles rare form of cancer)

‘No matter what’: NC mother of 5 battles rare form of cancer

©2023 Cox Media Group