CINCINNATI — According to the Ohio Department of Health, about 70,000 Ohioans find out they have cancer every year. For those who end up getting chemotherapy in the Greater Cincinnati area, a nonprofit started by the family of a late cancer patient is trying to make that difficult journey a little easier.

What You Need To Know

  • Chemo Unity helps cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy by providing a goodie bag packed with items to make treatment easier to endure

  • Chemo Unity was founded by the late cancer patient Robbie Hertzel and his family

  • Chemo Unity is a nonprofit relying on donations and volunteers 

Chemo Unity delivers a goodie bag filled with all kinds of things designed to make the chemotherapy experience more palatable. 

“My dad had no idea what he was in for and what a grueling process it is,” said Holden Hertzel, the son of Robby Hertzel, a father of three who was diagnosed with stage-four colon cancer when he was just 46 years old.

He received a gift bag of kindness on his first trip to chemo and Holden said his dad was so touched by the gesture, he immediately wanted to give back.

“So he got the idea of, ‘Wow, what if I did this for other people,’ cause he got there and everyone was just kinda sitting there going through treatment so this is something that kinda raised your spirits with it,” Holden said.

Hertzel and his wife, Cindy, started creating bags for other new patients.

Since Hertzel passed away in 2011, Cindy, their family and friends have been keeping up what he started, giving away more than two thousand bags to patients. They have also held a paddle tennis tournament, golf outing and other fundraisers to pay for the bags, which cost them more than $30 to produce. They’re always seeking donations and volunteers.  

The family has received a lot of support from The Summit Country Day School community, where Holden and his siblings attended. 

“We call it Chemo Unity,” Holden said. “We hand out the bags to the first-time users. All different types of things to just make the process a little bit easier.” 

They did exactly that for Alison Kaufman’s mother, Rita.

“There was a blanket because it’s really cold in the therapy in the office and lip balm and water and gum and mints because your mouth gets really dry the further you go into chemo,” Kaufman said. “It was just full of those items you wouldn’t start to think about that you’re going to need and want.”

Perhaps most of all, she says the gesture gave her mom a sense of hope.

“It really meant a lot of her just to feel that she’s not alone in this whole experience,” Kaufman said.

Holden says it’s a simple idea with a powerful message.

“One of these things my dad always said is ‘people are good,’ Going through all this, he realized how good people really are and we even have this little sticker of a heart that says, ‘People are good.’ I love the idea of positive reinforcement and that positive thinking will help.”

Holden and the others of Chemo Unity are spreading that message. One goodie bag at a time.     

“I think it’s so amazing when a family can go through something as horrific as losing someone to cancer and going through that battle with them and then deciding that they are not going to just stop in their own life and they’re going to turn it around and do something for others that are having the same struggles,” Kaufman said. 

“You can affect an entire community just by putting the good back in the universe,” Holden said.

They’re always looking for donations and volunteers. The family has received a lot of support from The Summit Country Day School community, where Holden and his siblings attended. 

“We found out quickly just what a family Summit is,” Holden said. “We’re always looking to extend that family to support those who are going through the fight of their lives.”

For more information, you can visit their website.