Dee Menear holds a basket of goodies that she hopes to give out to cancer survivors this holiday season. (Laura Dunham photo) SALEM — A young Salem woman, a cancer survivor, is forever grateful to her community, friends, family and church for supporting her the past year while she was treated for breast cancer.

"It was difficult to go though the process of the cancer treatments being a single woman, but those close to me got me through the worst possible moments especially the holidays," Dee Menear said recently.

So Menear got the idea that she would personally make a gift basket for a single woman dealing with cancer during the holidays this year. She called the Breast Cancer Support Nurse at Franklin Memorial Hospital who thought her idea was "awesome."

However the nurse at the hospital wondered why Menear would only single out single women when there are three or four cases of breast cancer a month in Franklin County.

"So I pleaded with my friends, my family, My Space and my church (the Western Maine Baptist Church) contacts looking for donations of items for baskets I could give these cancer survivors," Menear said.

She is looking for practical items such as hand sanitizers, head scarves, books of courage, journals, lotions, etc. "It's amazing, in a matter of 24 hours I was getting response from as far away as Kentucky," Menear said.

"In order to get monetary donations for those who cannot send gifts, someone who I have never met offered to build me a Web site free of charge," Menear said.

The Web site is: freewebs.com/breastcancerbaskets or call Menear at 678-2119.

"What started out as one basket for one woman has now turned into about 12 baskets full of 'goodies' that will be given out to cancer survivors for the holiday season," Menear said.