TAMPA, Fla. — A Lakeland woman is doing something special to boost the spirits of women dealing with breast cancer.

Cathy Angel sends them care packages called “Boxed by an Angel.” 

Angel runs her nonprofit out of her home. She has an upstairs bonus room filled with supplies and the boxes.

“So today we are making a box for a woman who was nominated by her daughter. She’s going to have rounds of chemo and radiation,” she said as she worked on the care package that included items like a candle, some very soft socks and cucumber mint lotion, among other things.

“It’s very important to me that the items that go in the boxes are safe for all of our cancer patients,” said Angel.

Angel knows how the women feel because she has had breast cancer herself. She was diagnosed in 2015. She had surgery and rounds of chemotherapy.

“The response that I get from the women is why I do this,” she said. It makes her emotional. “It does. Because I know what they are going through. I know how lonely it can feel at times and this type of boost is truly important to them.”

Lakeland resident Amy Austin is one of the women who has received one of the Boxed by an Angel care packages. “It was so much. It was like a warm hug,” she said. “To get something from someone who has been through treatment and know what that means.”

Angel also provides some women with stylish work clothes in the boxes. She said some women can’t afford the clothes when they are being treated for their cancer.

Angel said it is important for women fighting cancer to feel like someone is on their side. “I want them to feel loved. I’ve had many reach out. They don’t have family members to support them.”

Angel says she gets many thank you letters from people who have then gone on to sponsor a box for another women. She is hoping for more sponsors so she can send out more of the boxes.