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When Friendship Lives On  Nancy Needle Mendelson and Barbara Langer Pearlstine were best friends for 40 years, so when Barbara was diagnosed with cancer, Nancy stayed by her side throughout months of cancer treatment.They were together so much, people thought they were sisters. “She was sweeter and I was sarcastic, like Ethel and Lucy.” Nancy said. They laughed a lot and frequently spent entire afternoons in conversation, and playing Spite & Malice, a card game, but they never spent the “kitty.” They kept the total a secret and agreed that whoever passed away first would leave the nest egg to the other. After Barbara died in 1997, Barbara’s husband, Edwin and their daughters, Susan Pearlstine and Jan Pearlstine Lipov created the Nancy Mendelson Best Friend Endowment at CCF, with Nancy as advisor, to honor and celebrate the rare bond between these two women. "I'm forever grateful to the Pearlstines and Lipovs for the fabulous gift of my fund," said Nancy. "Barbara was a once-a-lifetime friend and I miss her everyday." What was special to all of them was that the fund would be an ongoing, giving and caring gift - “something a piece of jewelry or crystal never could be,” said Susan Pearlstine, a former CCF board member. “It’s a perfect way for the Pearlstine and Mendelson families to have many opportunities to reflect on Nancy and Mom’s special friendship.” Nonprofit organizations funded by the Nancy Mendelson Best Friend Endowment include the Race for the Cure, Spoleto Festival USA, American Lung Association, 211 – Hotline, American Cancer Society and others. |
 Ruby Cornwell Pendergrass Judith Baird Juanita Brown Linda Plunkett Kay Chitty Pearlstine and Mendelsohn Three Sisters Anne Marie Kathryn White Women Making a Difference |