In Hawley, Pennsylvania, shovels hit dirt on a project with no precedent anywhere in the country. For Pete’s Sake Cancer Respite Foundation broke ground on Pete’s Dream, a 34,000-square-foot campus on 32 acres adjacent to Woodloch Resort that will become the nation’s first facility built from the ground up specifically to give cancer patients and their families a place to breathe.
The $32 million project, developed in partnership with Woodloch and the Legacy Resort Collection, is expected to open in 2027. When it does, the foundation estimates it will serve more than 4,400 patients and loved ones each year — a massive expansion from the roughly 700 individuals it currently reaches annually.
For founder and CEO Marci Schankweiler, the groundbreaking is the culmination of a promise made more than 25 years ago. Her husband Pete died of cancer at age 30. His dying wish was for Marci to start an organization that would “dispel the isolation of a cancer diagnosis and bring the gift of respite.” She did. And now that organization is building a permanent home.
“Breaking ground means making Pete’s Dream a reality,” Schankweiler said at the ceremony. “We’re deeply grateful to Governor Shapiro, Senators Baker and Brown, Representatives Fritz and Olsommer, Woodloch, and the many loyal For Pete’s Sake donors who helped make this moment possible.”