The Cancer Support Community of Pasadena introduced its new Executive Director at a gathering held Monday in the non-profit’s smart new offices above the Pasadena Humane Society.
Ben Green, a Pasadena resident and former cancer patient, never lost hope when he was first diagnosed, and plans to bring that mentality with him as he carries out his duties at his new position.
“This is more of a family than I’ve ever experienced in terms of a non-profit,” Green said during Monday’s introductory meeting. “People are very close and committed to it.”
During the meeting Monday, Green called upon his staff to widen their outreach programs to better serve communities that are close by, yet too far for most patients or their caretakers to drive the distance.
“The organization has a lot of potential moving forward,” Green said. “We represent about 40 communities, but we’re based here and people don’t really travel more than 15 miles, so we have to do some outreach. People need this kind of service whether they are here or in Burbank, so we have to figure out strategies to get to those communities and get programs up and running.”
The Cancer Support Community is an international nonprofit that offers free services, such as educational workshops, support groups, stress reduction classes and nutrition and exercise programs for cancer patients and their caretakers.
Green, who recently stepped down from his position as CEO of the Red Cross San Gabriel Pomona Valley Chapter, said he believes his new job is a blessing and stressed again the importance of outreach.
“When this job came open, it was a blessing” Green said. “I’m five miles from my house, I can be engaged again with the Pasadena rotary and this Pasadena community is a great town, but what we just need to do is expand.”
Green, who became a volunteer Red Cross swim instructor as a high school student, eventually took a job teaching swim lessons with the Red Cross that lasted 20 years. In 2002, he became executive director of the Pasadena Senior Center, but then returned to the Red Cross in 2007, where he oversaw all services within his jurisdiction.
After a while, Green said that the daily trip through traffic to work wore him down, prompting him to accept the position offered to him by Tom Daly, President of Cancer Support Community Pasadena’s board.
“Ben had a lot of great ideas when we went through the interview process about how this local chapter could work with the national organization,” Daly said to Outlook Newspapers. “I think there’s a lot of carry-over from what he learned in working with the Red Cross, so I’m really looking forward to his being able to help us.”
For more information about Cancer Support Community of Pasadena, please see http://www.cscpasadena.org/
