It wasn’t until 2009, when Folsom resident Gina Mulligan was diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer, that she recognized the power of the written word.

Throughout her treatment, Mulligan received more than 200 letters and cards, some from people she didn’t even know. “They were so powerful and healing,” she says, yet she remembers wondering if all cancer patients were so fortunate.

These days, with her cancer in full remission, Mulligan is hard at work on her new non-profit organization, Girls Love Mail, a letter-writing campaign, which aims to provide all newly diagnosed breast cancer patients with words of encouragement and hope.  “I really feel that it benefits people,” she explains. “I’m not asking people for money, just a little compassion.” She is also a full-time writer (her epistolary novel, From Across the Room, is due out next month) and an active participant in the Sacramento Valley Branch of Susan G. Komen for the Cure (a national organization raising funds for breast cancer research and education). Despite her amazing drive and perseverance, Mulligan remains modest about her accomplishments. “I’m not trying to change the world,” she says. “I’m just trying to change a small part of it.”

For more about Gina Mulligan and other local happenings and information, be sure to pick up this month's copy of Style – Folsom, El Dorado Hills edition. Click on the Get Your Copy link on this Web site for some of our newsstand locations; click on the Subscribe link on this Web site to become a regular subscriber, or to order a copy of this issue or one of our back issues, please email  [email protected], or call 916-988-9888.