CINDY, INCIDENTALLY:

Recently, I found myself in the office of Faye Dietiker, director of Breast Cancer Angels, a nonprofit based in Huntington Beach.

She gave me a tour of the small office, the warehouse that starting to fill up for holiday fundraising, and then she showed me a pastel pink scrapbook with hundreds of cards from cancer patients (and their families) thanking the angels for help during a difficult and emotional journey.

But Dietiker, who sighs quite a bit and often looks frustrated when talking about her clients, doesn’t pretend that everything can be solved with the help of pink ribbon.

“It’s not always a happy ending,” she says with honest resignation. “People don’t always make it.”

I sought out Dietiker after watching an interview with Christina Applegate on “Good Morning America” just a few weeks before. The 36-year-old actress had been diagnosed with cancer and was able to catch it early. This didn’t stop her from having to make the difficult decision of getting a double mastectomy to ensure the cancer wouldn’t return.

During the interview Applegate said, “I’m clear. Absolutely 100% clear and clean,” she said. “It did not spread — they got everything out, so I’m definitely not going to die from breast cancer.”

Her comment left me feeling hopeful, slightly optimistic and thinking “Wow. You really can beat this.”

But I started to think about regular people.

You know, us.

The women and men who work at restaurants, drive buses, bank tellers, students or the women who clean the homes or care for the children of celebrities.

Do they have the same chance?

This was how I stumbled upon Dietiker and her army of angels.

Dietiker, a 10-year breast cancer survivor herself, started the nonprofit in her home after she noticed during her own treatment that there were women who didn’t have the right resources and support.

“When I was going through treatment, I sat next to women who had to pick between ‘getting meds or feeding their kids,’ ” she said. “I had great insurance and a great support group … but not everyone does.”

Since 1999, Dietiker and her sister (also a breast-cancer survivor) have assisted in helping women (and men) with the financial realities of breast cancer. They help with groceries, housing, children’s needs, transportation and medical expenses.

Back in April, the angels opened their first “Angel House” in West Garden Grove, a five-bedroom residence where women in treatment — who have nowhere to go — can stay. There’s a lot for Dietiker to be proud of, as she turned her nonprofit into a successful boutique agency that has paid out more than $1 million in financial assistance to women in treatment.

But to be honest, speaking with Dietiker was bittersweet.

It was difficult to hear the hint of sadness in her voice when she talked about all the friends she had lost through the years. And how hard it can be to weave through the impossible medical system that is filled with contradictions that keep people from getting proper care.

She says her stories can make a “grown man cry.”

But her stories can also push to inspire, which is the message at the end of our meeting that I decided to take home with me.

One can help out a nonprofit like Breast Cancer Angels or at the very least get involved in a cause where we would like to see change happen, because it really can make a difference.

“We just do what we do … not because we want publicity but because there is a need, Dietiker said. “Everybody can do something to brighten someone’s day and it’s such a boost for people to know Angels are here.”

For more information, visit www.breastcancerangels.org or call (714) 898-8900.

BREAST CANCER ANGELS

ADDRESS: 5142 Bolsa Ave., Huntington Beach

CONTACT: (714) 898-8900 or www.breast cancerangels .org

CINDY ARORA is a freelance writer. She may be reached at [email protected].