Saint Rose students volunteer to clean homes of cancer patients

Saint Rose students will partner with Cleaning for a Reason, a nonprofit organization that partners with professional cleaners to offer free housecleaning to cancer patients, to go out with local professional cleaning crews to clean eight patients’ homes on Saturday, October 30.

About 30 students, led by professional cleaning crew chiefs, are expected to participate.

Cleaning for a Reason is a nonprofit that partners with 1,200 residential cleaners throughout the United States and Canada to offer free house cleaning to households battling cancer. Since 2006, the nonprofit and its partners have donated more than $14.7 million in free services, helping more than 43,000 patients. In 2017, Cleaning for A Reason was adopted by ISSA Charities, the charitable arm of ISSA, The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association.

The services are available to any cancer patient, either an adult or family of a child. To request a cleaning, local patients can head to cleaningforareason.org and click on the “patients” tab. They should apply by noting “Saint Rose/CFR Volunteer Day” on their application.

The Huether School of Business’s Sales Professional in Residence Mark Michalisin is organizing the effort with the help of students in the College’s Student Sales Organization. They are dedicating the cleaning day to Michalisin’s mother-in-law, who recently lost a two-year battle with cancer.

“Students learn a tremendous amount in our classrooms at Saint Rose, and efforts like this one are important to developing the whole person and stress our Saint Rose values, including caring for the dear neighbor,” Michalisin said. “For my business students, making sales and earning a good income isn’t the only measure of success. We want to produce ethical, socially responsible, and community-oriented graduates. Students will see how much of a difference something as simple as a freshly cleaned house can make for a family going through a stressful situation.”