Tuscaloosa local Elizabeth Baldo-Downs turned her fight against breast cancer into a nonprofit that has impacted thousands of women nationally going through breast cancer treatment.
Baldo-Downs founded Bags of Hope in 2021 after surviving breast cancer herself. Four years later, Bags of Hope has grown into a nonprofit that ships bags to breast cancer patients across the United States. The bags usually include items such as a prayer quilt, handwritten notes, breast cancer awareness pins and clean beauty products.
She was diagnosed in 2019 with breast cancer at the age of 45. Shortly after she began treatment in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States. This meant she wasn't allowed to have anyone with her while she was going through treatment due to social distancing.
"It forced me to rely on God for my strength at that point," Baldo-Downs said.
After going through treatment, she said she felt called to give back.
"It was just really on my heart to do something to give back to the women that had gone through the same experience that I had," she said.
Her idea for the nonprofit was solidified after attending a religious conference where the speaker asked a question that really stood out to her. She said the speaker asked the audience to consider how they will be remembered when they die.
She was 48 at the time and had just completed radiation and chemotherapy treatments for her breast cancer.
"I knew my husband would say I'm a good wife. My kids would say I'm a good mom," she said. "But besides that, what would people say? What am I doing to make a difference in God's kingdom?"
It was shortly after this that she started Bags of Hope. She started locally in Tuscaloosa at the Lewis and Faye Manderson Cancer Center. She raised what money she could and put together care bags and delivered them there.
"It truly gives my cancer and what I went through a purpose. It allows me to show others Christ's love," Baldo-Downs said.
As of 2025, over 6,000 bags have been given away, with 1,700 being donated in the last nine months alone. The only requirements to receive a package from Bags of Hope is to live in the U.S. and to actively have breast cancer.
"It means a lot to have someone out there that you don't know think about you and care about you," Baldo Downs said.