By Robert King — Daily Staff Writer

WOODSTOCK — Woodstock cleaning company is giving female cancer patients a way to keep their homes clean while enduring taxing treatments.

Finishing Touches Cleaning Services will offer four free cleanings for cancer patients. The company recently joined efforts with the Texas-based nonprofit Cleaning for a Reason.

Finishing Touches began operations in 2005, and started volunteering with Cleaning for a Reason at the end of June.

Cleaning for a Reason started in May 2006 as a way to help women undergoing cancer treatments like chemotherapy keep their homes clean.

"They don't have the energy for it," said Vicki Olmstead, the nonprofit's executive director.

Sarah Schlabach, the owner of Finishing Touches, said she saw firsthand how cancer treatments can hinder a patient.

"My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago," she said. "It was difficult for her to maintain things she was normally able to do while she was undergoing chemo. One of the things that was hard was cleaning the house. You see people get weaker, and it's not their focus anymore. It's just getting through what they're going through."

Schlabach's mother is now a breast cancer survivor.

The house cleanings can have a profound effect on cancer patients, Olmstead said.

"We have had so many patients that said they don't know how good it is to come home from their [chemotherapy] treatment and come home to a clean-smelling house," she said.

How the program works is a female cancer patient contacts Cleaning for a Reason.

The nonprofit then verifies that the person is undergoing chemotherapy cancer treatments.

"They have to get in a doctor's verification that they have cancer, and are going through chemotherapy," Olmstead said.

The verification is to prevent fraud.

"Nowadays, I hate to say it, but you don't know about everybody," Olmstead said. "We don't want to be scammed so we try to do our due diligence."

After the verification is confirmed, the nonprofit places the patient in touch with a cleaning service in their area.

This is where Finishing Touches comes in. The cleaning service is based in Woodstock, but provides services "all over the valley," Schlabach said.

Schlabach provides four free cleanings, with one cleaning a month, for the patient.

The cleaning service not only helps cancer patients unable to clean their homes, but also saves them money, Schlabach said.

"That is money you are saving by not having to pay for [the cleaning services]," she said.

Schlabach said that since her affiliation with Cleaning for a Reason is new, she doesn't have any patients yet.

"I think it's more I need to get the word out there so people realize it is available," she said. "It's just making people aware of it."

Olmstead said the nonprofit is always searching for other cleaning service companies that wish to volunteer their time.

"We are always looking for maid services to join our efforts," she said.

For information about the program, cancer patients can call Cleaning for a Reason at (877) 337-3348, or go to the nonprofit's Web site at www.cleaningforareason.org. Patients can also file an online application at the site to receive cleaning services. Finishing Touches can be reached at 325-4346, or at www.finishingtouchesonline.org.

* Contact Robert King at rking@nvdaily.com