Celebrating 20 years back in October, the Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline and Support Program received a belated anniversary gift this month - $50,000 in federal aid Senator Hillary Clinton helped secure. Clinton was in Garden City last Friday to officially make the announcement at hotline headquarters - Adelphi. She also toured the facility and met with program volunteers.

The hotline was established in 1981 by a group of breast cancer patients who had just completed a support group at Adelphi's School of Social Work. The initial group wanted other women to benefit from the type of support they had received and thus started what was then dubbed the Woman-to-Woman Hotline. These support groups later gave birth to the Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline and Support Program, the second oldest in the country.

The Nassau senate delegation of the New York State Legislature, whose support has helped the program become a "beacon of light" to those diagnosed, provides funding, along with the Department of Health, grants and contributions.

The hotline is the first New York State program that exclusively addresses the psychological issues associated with breast cancer and is still the only statewide toll-free hotline. Hotline founder Leah Lauter, who notes the late Mike Tully was the first senator to provide funding, said it's as though she gave birth to a program and saw it through its adolescence.

"At first we had the volunteers but not the calls. The American Cancer Society had the calls but not the volunteers. We joined forces and let the Cancer Society transfer their calls to our hotline ... It's not an easy job but we've labored with devotion," Lauter said during the anniversary celebration.

To honor those diagnosed, "The Healing Garden," a queen-sized quilt sewn by members of the Carle Place Chapter of the Nassau County Homemakers Council, bears their names, inscribed in 70 colorful hearts made up of fabric designs that represent plants used in chemotherapy and cancer prevention.

Designs include Rosy Periwinkle, used against childhood leukemia and Hodgkin's Disease; Mary Apple, used to treat lung and testicular cancers as well as lymphomas and leukemia; and Pacific Yew, used to manufacture Taxol, which treats ovarian, breast, lung, colon and head and neck cancers. The quilt was unveiled back in October during the anniversary celebration.