For some time now, Bill Joplin’s Air-Conditioning and Heating has been funding a grant for the Texas Oncology Foundation-McKinney to help ease the financial burden of cancer treatment on local patients.
The story of how the grant came to be is as moving as the lives it has touched. Joplin’s founder and the grant’s benefactor, Bill Joplin, recently passed away after battling cancer himself. While undergoing treatment as a cancer patient, he witnessed firsthand the emotional, physical, and financial ruin that the disease wreaks on its victims.
“When you hear that word, ‘cancer,’ your life changes. You’re overwhelmed with making important decisions. As a fourth-generation resident of McKinney, Texas, I was aware of a tremendous unmet need within my community and the surrounding areas for aid for these patients,” Bill said. “My company makes a major charitable contribution once per year, and having seen the work of the Texas Oncology Foundation firsthand, it was an easy selection to direct our gift toward the Foundation.”
Bill may not have been able to see all the good his grant has done, but his memory lives on in the hearts of its recipients. The story of one of the grant’s recipients, Jayme David, is especially touching.
Jayme was a single mother living in Pilot Point, Texas two years ago when she noticed a lump in her neck. After a harrowing series of tests and appointments, doctors finally diagnosed Jayme with stage three breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes.
Jayme found herself inundated with medical bills. She worked several jobs while also going to school for a bachelor’s degree but couldn’t make ends meet. Luckily for Jayme, she had a guardian angel in the form of Bill Joplin.
“I can’t describe that feeling of relief when I found out I got a grant through the Texas Oncology Foundation,” she said. “The support of the Foundation allowed me to pay my mortgage, as well as my phone and electric bills that month.”
Thanks to Joplin’s support of the Foundation, Jayme and her children got to stay in their home while she underwent treatment, including a lumpectomy, radiation, and chemotherapy. The grant helped give her family a very happy ending — one year after her diagnosis, doctors declared Jayme cancer-free.
Today, we’re committed to honoring Bill’s memory and compassion with this continuing commitment to community members in need. If you’re also interested in donating to the Texas Oncology Foundation in McKinney, contact the foundation today.
