Maggie Erb, a Jenkintown native and graduate of Bishop McDevitt High School, saw her mother pass away from cervical cancer 23 years ago.

A high school senior at the time, support from the Breathing Room Foundation, an Elkins Park-based nonprofit, helped lift her family’s spirits and inspired them to one day do the same for others.

Over the recent summer months, Erb led an effort to collect school supplies for children impacted by cancer, either through their own diagnosis or a parent’s. As a member of the Jefferson Health North Region Nursing Professional Governance Committee, she suggested supporting a school supply drive through the Breathing Room Foundation as the committee’s quarterly community outreach project.

With donations pouring in all summer from colleagues at Jefferson’s Abington, Bucks, Einstein Montgomery, Frankford, Lansdale and Torresdale hospitals, the drive helped ensure that children from more than 20 families started the school year equipped with all essential supplies.

“Navigating a cancer diagnosis is emotionally and physically taxing,” Erb says. “Having experienced it with my mom, I know that having one less thing to worry about, such as finding and purchasing school supplies, can be an incredible relief for families. I’m in awe of my colleagues’ generosity and cannot thank them enough.”

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Photo: Jefferson Health | Photo caption: Left to right, Justin Murta, RN, co-chair of the Jefferson Health Nursing Professional Governance Committee (North Region); Colleen Knoble, Director of Development, Breathing Room Foundation; Maggie Erb, Nursing Excellence Coordinator, Jefferson Abington Hospital.