Women-Led Collaboration To Help Cancer Community
A collaboration between two health-driven women founders that began nearly two years ago is set to launch and raise money to support one’s legacy. The late Sherry Pollex and Ashley Walsh had several connections through motorsports and their personal health journeys, which also led them to create organizations focused on health and wellness through organic and plant-based resources. The two founders agreed to collaborate and launch a SherryStrong CBD line of products grown from the world’s first Regenerative Organic Certified® hemp at Pocono Organics as a wellness resource for those suffering from the ill effects of cancer.
Sherry, founder of the SherryStrong Foundation and Ashley, founder of Pocono Organics, were connected through the NASCAR industry. Ashley’s grandfather and grandmother, Doc and Rose Mattioli, built Pocono Raceway, which the family still owns and operates. Sherry had been a respected figure and wellness advocate among the racing community for many years. Both women spent years seeking wellness resources to aid their personal health needs and, at times, making their own organic remedies because they couldn’t find what they needed in stores.
Ashley had been following Sherry’s journey with ovarian cancer for several years and admired how she focused on trying organic products to alleviate her pain from cancer treatments then passed that information on to her community of followers through SherryStrong.org. She got in touch with Sherry through Social Media in 2022 and sent her a care package of Pocono Organics USDA Certified Organic CBD products hoping they would give her similar relief to the pain, anxiety, nausea, and sleep issues she was having.
The initial outreach led to an in-person meeting at an event at Pocono Raceway. It was there the two began brainstorming how they could create a SherryStrong line of USDA Certified Organic CBD where proceeds would go back to her foundation and continue to empower the women in Sherry’s community of survivors, fighters, and caretakers.
Sherry, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014. She launched SherryStrong.org in 2016, as a resource and community hub to empower women to know their bodies, provide education about non-toxic living practices, and create greater awareness for ovarian cancer. Sherry battled cancer for nine years before passing in September of 2023. She inspired countless people around the world with her bold and carefree personality. The SherryStrong Foundation was established in early 2024 to continue Sherry’s mission of inspiring others, educating about cancer prevention, and utilizing integrative therapies to complement conventional therapy in oncology.
“Over the years, Sherry tried several different products in an effort to manage the side effects of chemotherapy,” said Jill Burgdoff, President of the SherryStrong Foundation. “The importance of using clean products with non-toxic ingredients was a priority. To know there are products like these to manage nausea, skin dryness & rashes, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, pain, and other side effects, is such a relief. Followers in the cancer community often looked to Sherry for product recommendations as it saved them valuable time and energy as they navigated their own diagnosis.”
The SherryStrong line of USDA Certified Organic CBD products includes:
· Lavender Salve Stick (1000mg)
· Island Dream Cream (1500mg)
· Nano Particle Tincture (600mg)
· Bath Bomb/Calm (150mg)
· Bath Bomb/Detox (150mg)
The SherryStrong CBD line can be found at ShopSherryStrong.org/collections/cbd-products
“We both knew, firsthand, how CBD made a difference in our lives,” Ashley said. “So, I asked Sherry if she would be interested in doing a private label for SherryStrong to help raise money for the foundation she was developing at the time and add a new wellness resource for her community of women. We were both very excited about this and I’m so proud and grateful to continue working with Jill to launch this line for Sherry’s legacy and community.”
Ashley was diagnosed in her late 20s with gastroparesis, a paralyzed stomach that doesn’t allow her to digest most foods normally.
“That diagnosis changed my life,” Ashley said. “I was only getting 10-to-15 bites of food a day and had to juice my food in order to get my nutrients. The doctors wanted to heal me by cutting out parts of my stomach, inserting feeding tube ports, and putting me on all types of medications. That just wasn’t the quality of life I wanted so I sought out other doctors. The ones I found wanted me to use food as medicine and put me on an organic diet and I began to explore plant-based supplements, like CBD. My results were undeniable. Instead of being sick five days a week, I was sick five days a month.
“Using nutrient-dense food as medicine while also finding a way to help heal our planet became a mission for me,” she continued. “That is what led to the vision of Pocono Organics opened in 2018 and now one of the largest Regenerative Organic Certified® vegetable farms in North America. We grow vegetables and hemp in a way that strengthens our soil, sequesters more carbon from the air, and produces healthier food than conventional, monocropping practices that use synthetic chemicals to grow food.”
“I am excited to share these organic CBD products from Pocono Organics with our community of friends and followers - especially those who suffer from the awful side effects of cancer treatments,” Jill added. “Here at the SherryStrong Foundation, we are always looking to add tools to our toolbox of holistic remedies. I am honored to be a part of the collaboration that Ashley and Sherry started, and see it come to life!”