Plan Jan. 22 Benefit For Ailing Wife, Mom

OCEAN VIEW — A benefit is planned on Jan. 22 at the Ocean View Fire Hall, 128 Shore Road from 7-11 p.m. to assist Dorothy (Champion) Smaniotto, a wife and mother of an 11-year-old son who has suffered a host of medical problems since May 2008.
Smaniotto, a Palermo resident, is the daughter of former Dennis Township mayor John S. Champion and the late Elaine E. Champion, and is a 1987 Middle Township High School graduate and 1989 graduate of Atlantic Community College and 1991 graduate of Richard Stockton College.
She is a Sunday school teacher and member of Seaville United Methodist Church.
Smaniotto’s son, Alex, has Asperger’s Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism.
Her medical problems have included a stroke, a heart attack, and having Antiphospholipid Syndrome, an incurable blood disease. It causes her blood to clot abnormally.
Additionally, she has tested positive for BRCA2 family mutation, (breast and ovarian cancer).
She had a hysterectomy followed by a double mastectomy, and was diagnosed with a movement disorder simi-lar to Parkinson’s disease.
Smaniotto has been unable to work because of her illnesses, and has exhausted her disability benefits along with her health insurance benefits.
She is presently covered under COBRA, but those benefits are due to expire shortly.
Due to the fact that she must make weekly doctor visits, with many co-pays, COBRA and travel expenses, she is in need of assistance with those high bills.
All proceeds from the beef and beer benefit will be used to pay down those expenses.
Smaniotto had been employed by Acme Pharmacy Department as a certified pharmacy technician since 1989. She worked in the Seaville store from 1989 to 2004, and in the Court House store from 2004 until she fell ill.
Tickets for the event are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.
For information or to donate, contact Denise Kennedy-Watson at 465-5000, Jackie Gullifer at 861-0788 or Smaniotto directly via e-mail at ksmaniotto3@comcast.net.