Patrick Dempsey Reflects on His Nonprofit, ‘General Hospital’ Star Talks Cancer and More

Patrick Dempsey discusses what his late mother would think of his nonprofit.

Actor Patrick Dempsey founded The Dempsey Center in 2008 to honor his mother, Amanda, who died from ovarian cancer in 2014. She was diagnosed in 1997.

“We help people who have been impacted by cancer,” Dempsey told PEOPLE this week. “We don’t treat the disease; we treat the person in what is called wraparound care. A lot of counseling, acupuncture, reiki, nutrition.”

Read More: Patrick Dempsey Talks Cancer

Dempsey, 57, located his nonprofit in his native state of Maine, and wants to help individuals impacted by cancer to give them traditional ways to treat their diagnoses.

“The type of work that we’re doing and helping a family is very important and gives life meaning,” noted Dempsey. “I think to be of service is really why we’re here and you really feel that when you’re doing this type of work.”

Dempsey hopes that his mother would be proud of the work he put in to honor her name.

“We founded it in 2008, and one of the things that kept her going was going into the Center. She would come in and talk to people who were newly diagnosed,” he told PEOPLE. “There’s a lot of healing between both people in those moments.”

John J. York discussed the stem cell transplant process.

Star of “General Hospital,” John J. York, revealed that he has started the blood stem cell transplant process. York remained on ABC for 22 years, playing the role of Mac Scorpio on “General Hospital.”

“There's still a long road ahead, but these next 100 days I would say is rocky terrain,” York told PEOPLE.

York was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes and smoldering multiple myeloma — both blood and bone marrow disorders — last December.

York had found a match for a donor on BeTheMatch.org and took many tests to make sure that the stem cells were a correct fit for his body.

“It's literally a whole new ballgame from then on. From what I understand — this is kind of how I received the information — has been like pre-game and practice,” York told PEOPLE. The transplant process began earlier this week.

York discussed how things the process is out of his hands and taking things slow, stating, “Well, you know, what can I do? There's nothing I can do about it. I said it before: one day at a time.”

Students made 1,000 paper cranes in honor of a teacher was diagnosed with cancer.

A group of elementary students at Foothill’s Elementary School in Arizona made 1,000 paper cranes in honor of their teacher, Greg Lubert, who had come out of retirement to teach sixth graders.

Lubert was then diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few months later, when he was forced to resign.

The students had been inspired by a Japanese book, “Sadako,” in which a sick girl was told that if she could make 1,000 paper cranes, she would have one wish.

The students at the school had given all their cranes to Lubert and they all wish him a healthy and safe recovery.

“He’s just a really great teacher, he has helped me grow so much,” stated one of Lubert’s students in a recent YouTube video on ABC15 Arizona.

Lubert discussed how impactful it feels to have everyone around him during this time, saying, “It’s overwhelming, from everyone, the faculty, the kids, the parents, it’s just been unbelievable,” according to a recent video on ABC15 Arizona.

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