J.R. Philson, right, managed doctors’ appointments, assumed all daily household responsibilities and “figured out what some of my meals could be after my chemo sessions,” said his wife, Melissa, left, a Butler County Community College faculty member. The Philsons are shown Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018, when Melissa as a breast cancer survivor joined others in a pregame ceremony in which they walked along the 50-yard-line at what was named Heinz Field in Pittsburgh before the Steelers played the Atlanta Falcons.
(Butler, PA) Caring for a loved one who was battling breast cancer, a Butler County Community College registered nursing student said, included preparing meals, readying for the day and running errands.
And when not, simply watching television or working puzzles with her grandmother.
“Just being there,” said Delaney Staab, of Slippery Rock. “And being able to provide any sort of distraction in a way that she was not just constantly thinking about it.”
Melissa Philson’s husband, J.R., managed doctors’ appointments for her. Assumed all daily household responsibilities. Helped with their elementary-school-aged children. “Figured out,” she said, “what some of my meals could be after my chemo sessions.”
Jayme Steighner’s husband, Cory, prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner containing “all the right nutrients,” she said. He chauffeured their daughter to after-school play practices. Cleaned their home. Folded the family’s laundry.
Michelle Rock’s husband, David, took care of the couple’s two youngest children. Drove their daughter to gymnastics. Made sure their dinner was on the table.
“I think,” said Philson, a faculty member in BC3’s education and behavioral sciences division, “the caregivers’ job can be harder, speaking from the perspective of someone who had breast cancer.”
Caregivers likely burden daily worries other than their loved one’s condition, said Steighner, like Philson and Rock a breast cancer survivor and BC3 employee.
“But,” Steighner said, “they obviously don’t want to project that onto the patient.”
About 2 in 3 caregivers experience moderate to high emotional stress, a 2026 National Alliance on Mental Health report stated.
About 1 in 4, according to the report, feels alone.
“There can be so much that goes along with taking care of somebody whom you love, who is sick and going through treatment,” said Rock, a faculty member in BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health.
“And then just trying to keep up with your own life.”
Butler County Community College faculty member Melissa Philson, right, sells a raffle ticket to a student during a Project Pink fundraiser Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township. Philson, a breast cancer survivor, established during BC3’s Project Pink campaign in October 2025 a scholarship to benefit a BC3 student who survived breast cancer or who was a caregiver. The inaugural scholarship has been awarded to a 20-year-old registered nursing student.
“I was excited to hear the scholarship could also go to caregivers. Regardless of how the patient’s story turns out, that person walked a really emotional journey as well.”
-- Jayme Steighner, breast cancer survivor, BC3 administrator
Cory Steighner, left, prepared meals, cleaned the house, folded laundry and chauffeured their daughter to after-school play practices while his wife, Jayme, right, had breast cancer. Jayme, a Butler County Community College administrator, and her husband are shown at a wedding in West Sunbury in October. The BC3 Education Foundation has awarded its first BC3 Project Pink for Hope Scholarship to a student who was a caregiver to her grandmother who battled cancer.
Philson’s experience inspired her last October – during breast cancer awareness month – to announce her creation of a scholarship to benefit a BC3 student who is a survivor of the disease or who was a caregiver.
“I was excited to hear the scholarship could also go to caregivers,” said Steighner, director of BC3’s Keystone Education Yields Success program.
“Regardless of how the patient’s story turns out, that person walked a really emotional journey as well.”
BC3’s social awareness club conducts a Project Pink campaign each October to raise funds to support breast cancer awareness and research.
Philson, one of the club’s three advisers, said in October 2025 she would match dollar-for-dollar up to $500 any financial contribution to the BC3 Education Foundation during the campaign to support her new BC3 Project Pink for Hope Scholarship.
The 2025 campaign raised $2,200, from donations, the sale of BC3 Project Pink shirts at the college bookstore, proceeds from a gift card raffle -- and a private $1,000 contribution that stated “in honor of Melissa Philson,” said Bobbi Jo Cornetti, the foundation’s scholarship and development coordinator.
Seventy-five percent of the funds raised were contributed to A Glimmer of Hope Foundation, Wexford.
Twenty-five percent supported the BC3 Project Pink for Hope Scholarship with the foundation.
“Being a survivor, my whole attitude has been to give back and to do something for students,” Philson said. “It is a rare experience that not everyone has. Academic scholarships are incredible and very much needed, but I wanted to provide something from more than just the academic side.”
“Being the ones to have to care for someone and watch someone that they love be sick. … I can’t put into words what that probably felt like to them.”
-- Michelle Rock, breast cancer survivor, BC3 faculty member
David Rock, right, “kind of did it all” while his wife, Michelle, left, had breast cancer. Michelle, a Butler County Community College faculty member, and her husband are shown celebrating their 22nd wedding anniversary in November in Zelienople. The BC3 Education Foundation has awarded the first BC3 Project Pink for Hope Scholarship to a student who was a caregiver to her grandmother who battled cancer.
Caregivers average seven “poor mental health days each month,” the National Alliance on Mental Health report stated.
Caregiver burnout can include physical, emotional and mental exhaustion, according to 2023 report by the Cleveland Clinic.
They may feel fatigue, stress, withdrawn, distracted, alone, angry or helpless, according to a 2025 report by the American Cancer Society.
Her husband “made sure I was getting my medications when I needed to,” Steighner said. “He learned how to strip a surgical drain. He took on the role of a nurse and also head of the household at the same time.
“It’s a lot on the caregiver.”
Rock said she would be exhausted and sleep extensively after returning home from treatments.
“And so David,” she said, “kind of did it all.”
Philson said she felt for her husband and children “being the ones to have to care for someone and watch someone that they love be sick. I can’t put into words what that probably felt like to them.”
The Butler County Community College Education Foundation has awarded its first Project Pink for Hope Scholarship to Delaney Staab, above, a 20-year-old registered nursing student who was a caregiver to her grandmother who battled cancer. Staab, of Slippery Rock, is shown Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Founders Hall on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township following her induction into BC3’s Rho Phi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, an international academic honor society for two-year colleges and programs.
“It’s hard to have to see someone go through that. … Being there, being able to help her through it, was important to me.”
-- Delaney Staab, BC3 student, first BC3 Project Pink for Hope Scholarship recipient
Staab’s grandmother learned about her condition in December 2024.
“Being told that she had breast cancer was obviously devastating to me,” Staab said, “but I’ve always been a person who wants to step in and help in any way possible.”
Her grandmother underwent surgery in April 2025.
“It’s hard,” Staab said, “to have to see someone go through that. There are so many stories about people struggling and having tough battles with cancer. I did not want to see her go through that alone. Being there, being able to help her through it, was important to me.”
Staab changed her bandages. Cooked her meals. Provided comfort and companionship as they watched hockey games.
And when Staab could not be by her grandmother’s side, she would call her.
“Being there to assist her was one of the most heart-warming and rewarding parts,” Staab said, “because being able to see her become a stronger person each day and to get better and better brought a huge smile to my face."
“And the person that she truly was on the inside slowly become her again.”
Her grandmother has been free of cancer for one year.
BC3’s Project Pink campaign continues
Staab graduated from Slippery Rock Area High School in 2025 and enrolled in BC3’s selective-admissions associate degree career program in registered nursing.
She earned dean’s list recognition at BC3 in her first semester and president’s list honors in her second, when she was inducted into the college’s Rho Phi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, an international academic honor society for two-year colleges and programs.
The BC3 Education Foundation in July selected the 20-year-old to receive Philson’s inaugural $500 BC3 Project Pink for Hope Scholarship as a former breast cancer caregiver.
“She started the scholarship and it will make a ripple effect,” Staab said. “It will go to help me succeed in nursing school, in becoming a nurse and then helping patients who can then go out to help others who can help more people.”
The college’s 2026 Project Pink campaign continues through Oct. 31.
Contributions to support the scholarship can be made by check to the BC3 Education Foundation, 107 College Drive, Butler, PA 16002, with “BC3 Project Pink for Hope Scholarship” noted on the memo line.
Glimmer of Hope Foundation is a nonprofit organization, its website states, that supports research, programs and studies – particularly focusing on premenopausal breast cancer, which is often more aggressive in younger women.
BC3’s Keystone Education Yields Success program provides resources and services to the college’s low-income students.
BC3 Project Pink for Hope Scholarship applicants must have a minimum grade-point average of 2.75.
Students named to BC3’s president’s list achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.75 or higher during a semester and to the dean’s list, a 3.5 to 3.74.
New members of Phi Theta Kappa must have a grade-point average of at least 3.5.