Local Business Hosts Fundraiser for Cancer Charity

A lifestyle gift shop in Manhattan Beach is hosting a fundraiser Tuesday for a charity that helps children cope with having a loved one diagnosed with cancer.

Tabula Rasa, 919A Manhattan Ave., will donate 10 percent of its sales Tuesday toward Walk with Sally, owner Maureen McBride said. McBride is a volunteer for Walk with Sally, which pairs an adult mentor with a child, whose parent or sibling is diagnosed or has died of cancer.

The program helps to take kids to a safe place where they can get away from cancer, she said.

“It lets kids be kids,” McBride said. “It takes the attention away from the cancer and places it on the child.”

McBride, who lost her father to cancer in 1998, is a mentor in the program. Her mentee, Isabel, whom she has been mentoring for the past seven years, lost her mother, Leonor, to breast cancer this past June, McBride said. The fundraiser Tuesday is in honor of Leonor.

Tabula Rasa is open until 7 p.m. For more information about Walk with Sally, visit walkwithsally.org