More than a dozen house cleaning companies in Iowa are now affiliated with a program that offers free services to women who are fighting cancer. Debbie Sardone runs a residential cleaning service in Texas and in 2006, launched the non-profit venture called “Cleaning for a Reason” (CleaningForAReason.org.) which now has a nationwide reach.  “Several years ago, I took a call from a woman who was inquiring about service,” Sardone says. “I gave her the price and she said, ‘I can’t afford that right now, I’m battling cancer and I’m not working,’ and she hung up. I decided that day, the next time any woman called our office and said she had cancer, we’d give her the cleaning for free.”

Sardone’s idea of “paying it forward” now enlists more than 11-hundred maid services across the country in all 50 states and in Iowa communities like Ames, Clinton, Council Bluffs and Waterloo. “Cleaning for a Reason is for any woman battling any type of cancer, not just breast cancer,” Sardone says. “They can go to cleaningforareason.org, click on the ‘cancer patient’ tab and fill out the contact information either for themselves or for a loved one and we will match them with a local participating maid service.” That service will provide free monthly cleanings for four months.

The professionals who work for the cleaning services have said they truly enjoy being able to give back and use their skill to make the life of a woman a little bit easier,” she says. Since its launch eight years ago, the program has provided free services to more than 15-thousand women with cancer. “Battling cancer is difficult enough but sometimes pushing a broom or a mop or a vacuum cleaner is just out of the question,” Sardone says. “That’s when Cleaning for a Reason comes in with this very practical everyday help.” October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Locally, companies involved in the program include:

• Council Bluffs: Simply Cleaner;
• Red Oak: Missy’s Cleaning Service

(Radio Iowa)