She’s the type of person who will hear about someone going through a rough time and she’ll stick an anonymous, heartfelt letter in their mailbox.”

Tiffany Bennett, speaking about her mom, Dawn Luciano

Fund-raiser for Dawn Luciano

WHAT: Spaghetti dinner to benefit a local woman who was recently diagnosed with stage IV lymphoma and lost her job

WHERE: Portsmouth Portuguese American Citizens Club, 35 Power St., Portsmouth

WHEN: 6-8 p.m. on Saturday, June 9

ENTERTAINMENT: DJ Hoffie, karaoke and music

COST: Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door and $30 for.a family. Free for kids 5 and under. Raffles tickets are $1 each or $5 for six; $5 for 50/50.

CONTACT: Tiffany Bennett at 401/297-9276 or Justin Bennett at 401/200-0843

MORE INFO: Facebook/FightforDAWN/2018

PORTSMOUTH — Dawn Luciano has been taking care of people her whole life. Now it’s time for others to take care of her, her daughter says.

The 43-year-old Sprague Street resident was recently diagnosed with Stage IV lymphoma and soon after lost her job as a nurse, said Tiffany Bennett, who’s hosting a fund-raiser June 9 to help her mom with medical expenses.

Ms. Luciano’s ordeal began at the end of December, after a rash appeared on her shoulder.

“After going to the doctors multiple times and getting tests and biopsies, it wasn’t until the end of April — four months later — that they decided that it’s cancer. It’s a really rare form of lymphoma,” Ms. Bennett said.

Her condition has gotten worse since then.

“It started off as a little rash and now it’s all over her, from head to toe,” she said. “She can’t be in the sun, she can’t go out. She doesn’t like to go out because she gets weird looks from people. They think she’s dirty because it looks like it’s just a rash from not washing, but it’s not.”

Losing her job has put her mother in dire financial straits, she said.

“She’s got no money,” Ms. Bennett said. “They tried to repo her car and she had to borrow $800 from my sister to get it back. We’ve been giving her money left and right.”

“All our money is going right there,” added her husband, Justin Bennett. (You may remember the couple from a June 2017 Portsmouth Times story about the day they temporarily left their wedding reception and came to the Common Fence Point Improvement Association Community Hall to party with their “second family” of Zumba dancers.)

Doctors are saying Ms. Luciana should survive the disease, but the treatments are rough, her daughter said.

“It’s three times a week and she has no money. Her wife is working 24/7 — back-to-back doubles — every single day. My mom’s a nurse, but her wife is only a CNA (certified nursing assistant), and there’s a big difference in pay.”

Added Mr. Bennett, “They’re on the verge of losing their house.”

Fund-raiser June 9

The couple has planned a spaghetti dinner benefit for Ms. Luciano at the Portsmouth Portuguese American Citizens Club on Saturday, June 9 (see related story).

“There’s going to be tons of raffles. The local businesses have been very nice in donating a lot of stuff,” said Mr. Bennett. 

Toppa’s Foodservice & Paper Supply in Middletown “has donated all the paper goods — everything from the raffle tickets to forks, knives, spoons,” he said.

The Pizza Gourmet is also helping out because Ms. Luciano’s plight hits close to home, Mr. Bennett said.

“One of the owner’s wives was diagnosed a couple of years ago with breast cancer. She beat it, but it came back as something else and she’s on a clinical trial. They’re going to donate all the pasta,” he said.

Many other local residents “are trying to help us out as much as possible,” he said.

‘Amazing woman’

Ms. Bennett said her mom has always been there for others, so she’s hopeful the community will rally behind her now that she needs help.

“A lot of people in this community may not know her by name, or even know her face, but she’s the type of person who will hear about someone going through a rough time and she’ll stick an anonymous, heartfelt letter in their mailbox. She gave her car away to someone who didn’t have one and was walking to work every day,” said Ms. Bennett.

Her husband nodded.

“She’s an amazing woman,” he said. “I’ve witnessed it myself. She’s gone to Fall River and actually picked up a homeless person and taken them out to lunch, just to make sure they ate. She’s the type of person who’d give you the shirt off her back.”

For more information, visit the event's Facebook page.