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Digital assault on Internet infrastructure affects Twitter, other sites Friday

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Exeter native, Emily Smith, lectures on addiction at TEDx Erie Nov. 5

<p>KINGSTON &#8212; Step into the Medical Oncology Associates office on Pierce Street this month and you&#8217;ll notice a 5-foot-tall plush giraffe and his slightly smaller friend, a 3-foot zebra, displayed near an electric stove, a lift-away vacuum cleaner and a toy Land Rover designed for a preschooler to ride.</p><p>Those are just a few of more than 150 prizes that will be awarded Nov. 4 during a fund-raising raffle the MOA staff has organized to benefit its Prescription Assistance Fund that helps cancer patients with the cost of medicine, equipment and transportation.</p><p>&#8220;If you have a need you can tell anyone here &#8212; you could tell our maintenance man &#8212; and we will help. It&#8217;s completely confidential,&#8221; said Carol Greenwald, a raffle committee member who counsels patients and their families at MOA.</p><p>The committee wants to top the $24,000 raised during last year&#8217;s raffle, said Greenwald, whose husband, Dr. David Greenwald and brother, Dr. Bruce Saidman, are partners in the oncology practice.</p><p>&#8220;The best part is, all the proceeds go to the patients,&#8221; Greenwald said as she led the way past such prizes as jewelry, a stand mixer, a lamp, artwork and gift certificates.</p><p>Anyone can visit the office and buy tickets, $2 for one or $5 for three, fill them out with a name and phone number and put them into the appropriately numbered canister in hopes of winning, say, the fire pit as opposed to a Schwinn bicycle, a set of fishing equipment, a tool chest, a waffle maker or hockey tickets.</p><p>Because there are so many prizes, raffle committee member Carol Demko said, the drawing on Nov. 4 will take hours.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s always very exciting,&#8221; added Demko, who is a physician liaison at MOA.</p><p>The canister that has attracted the most tickets in recent weeks, labeled No. 1, is for a $1,000 cash prize donated by Preferred Travel of Mountain Top. Three other cash prizes, each worth $500, have been donated by employees of Eye Care Specialists in Kingston, Commonwealth Health Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and Dr. Satish and Neala Patel.</p><p>Many items have been donated by businesses, families and individuals, Greenwald said last week, adding someone had stopped by with a basket of car-care items just that morning.</p><p>Members of the MOA staff pitch in, too, she said, fingering a quilt made by nurse Jean Nitch. &#8220;We&#8217;re very proud of her,&#8221; Greenwald said. &#8220;She makes a different quilt every year.&#8221;</p><p>The staff at MOA is so caring and so upbeat about their raffle, donor Bonnie Harris said, she became eager to help.</p><p>&#8220;Fortunately for my family, when my mom was ill three years ago, we didn&#8217;t have to use the prescription fund because, between my mom&#8217;s insurance and our family, we were able to handle the transportation and costs of her treatment, but I know there are a lot of people who aren&#8217;t as fortunate,&#8221; said Harris, who donated a sapphire, topaz and silver necklace in honor of her mother, the late Lois Lewis, of Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s difficult for anybody to go through cancer treatments, but if you do have to go through it, the folks at Medical Oncology Associates, from the doctors and nurses and technicians to support staff, they&#8217;re wonderful. They take such a burden off you,&#8221; Harris said. &#8220;There are not enough superlatives I can say about that practice.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;We wanted a second opinion and they were not at all territorial; they helped us make arrangements to go to Philadelphia,&#8221; Harris recalled. &#8220;If a family member is having difficulty coping, they&#8217;ll talk to you, too. They treat not just the patient but the whole family.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It makes me feel good to help,&#8221; Harris said.</p><p>Helping also feels right to local businessman Ken Carey, who has raised more than $301,000 over the past 12 years for the Prescription Assistance Fund.</p><p>&#8220;Talk about paying it forward,&#8221; Demko said with a grateful smile.</p><p>Carey, who survived Stage IV testicular cancer in 2004, did not need financial help from the MOA Prescription Assistance Fund, but is happy to help those who do &#8212; through golf tournaments, T-shirt sales and other &#8220;Make Life Count&#8221; promotions at the three locations of his restaurant, The Tipsy Turtle.</p><p>&#8220;To see what Dr. Greenwald and his staff do on a regular basis, it&#8217;s life-altering,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Without a doubt, it&#8217;s a worthwhile program.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_raffle01.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_raffle01.jpg</photo0><caption0></caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_raffle02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A sapphire, topaz and silver necklace, donated by Bonnie Harris of Wilkes-Barre in honor of her late mother, is one of several items people have presented to the raffle in memory of a loved one. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_raffle02.jpg</photo1><caption1>A sapphire, topaz and silver necklace, donated by Bonnie Harris of Wilkes-Barre in honor of her late mother, is one of several items people have presented to the raffle in memory of a loved one. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_raffle03.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Prizes ranging from a plush giraffe to a vacuum cleaner to a $1,000 in cash are among the 1,000 items to be raffled off Nov. 4 at the Medical Oncology Associates office in Kingston. Proceeds benefit the Prescription Assistance Fund. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_raffle03.jpg</photo2><caption2>Prizes ranging from a plush giraffe to a vacuum cleaner to a $1,000 in cash are among the 1,000 items to be raffled off Nov. 4 at the Medical Oncology Associates office in Kingston. Proceeds benefit the Prescription Assistance Fund. </caption2><photoCredit2>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_raffle04.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Raffle committee members Carol Greenwald, foreground, and Carol Demko talk about the many items people can win during the Nov. 4 raffle that will benefit the Medical Oncology Associates Prescription Assistance Fund. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_raffle04.jpg</photo3><caption3>Raffle committee members Carol Greenwald, foreground, and Carol Demko talk about the many items people can win during the Nov. 4 raffle that will benefit the Medical Oncology Associates Prescription Assistance Fund. </caption3><photoCredit3>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Raffle benefits Medical Oncology Associates prescription fund