Shari Greenwald Mendes is an architect who lives in Raanana with her husband, David, and their four children. They came to live in Israel from the US in 2003. Shari was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, and after treatment, is doing well. She was inspired by her experience to start a charity for needy, newly-diagnosed women, to help them cope with the substantial out of pocket expenses that inevitably come with a serious illness such as breast cancer. Many of these women are desperately poor, often single parents, and the Israel Breast Cancer Emergency Relief Fund (IBCERF,) by alleviating extreme financial hardship during the first few months post-diagnosis, allows these women to focus on the important work of getting well.