Family, friends grateful for help from Cranberry CUP
CRANBERRY TWP — Jade Butler enjoyed her weekend in the limelight while being grateful for the help and support she and her ailing mother are receiving from the Cranberry CUP.
Jade, 17, and her 46-year-old single mother, Janette Sutphin, are the Cranberry CUP’s 2025 inspirational family. The organization is assisting the family as Janette faces inoperable stage 4 colon cancer that has left her bedridden.
The CUP, which stands for Community Uniting People, annually selects an inspirational family that is struggling and in need of assistance.
“I’m really grateful they did this for us,” Jade said Saturday, Aug. 2, following the CUP’s opening ceremony at Cranberry Community Park. “I think it’s really cool I get to be in the spotlight for a moment.”
She said her mother would have loved to be able to attend CUP’s weekend-long activities and events, and the warm sunshine.
“We need help,” said Jade, who will be a senior in the fall at Seneca Valley High School.
The CUP has helped the family pay some bills, fixed their garage, bought them a new washer and dryer and provided Jade with driving lessons to help her get her learner’s permit. She said she is taking her driver’s license test in November.
Jade said she wants to attend college after high school, but isn’t sure about a major yet. She said she likes the anatomy classes she has had in high school, and is considering pursuing a medical degree, but she also is interested in real estate.
Her mother’s friend, Jessica McAllister, of Philadelphia, who spoke during the ceremony, learned about the Cranberry CUP and told her about it.
“Your contributions have brought hope and comfort to families like Janette’s,” McAllister told the audience.
After the ceremony, she said she was looking for an organization that could help Janette and found the CUP.
“This is a great organization,” McAllister said.
She said Janette has difficulty trusting people, but CUP board members were able to put her at ease.
“They stepped up and gave Jade driving lessons. They really stepped in and took a lot of worry from Janette,” McAllister said.
She said she and Janette met more than 20 years ago as students at the Community College of Allegheny County.
“She was an excellent note taker, so I buddied up with her real quick,” she said.
Before Saturday’s opening ceremony, she said she and Janette’s family celebrated Janette’s 47th birthday, which is next week.
McAllister joined Janette’s family at the CUP’s Friday night kick off party at Cranberry Highlands Golf Course which was also attended by previous inspirational families.
“To have a community come together and help the community is really great,” she said.
A high school softball player whose dad was the coach, McAllister said she might return next year and play in the CUP tournament.
Anthony Bertolino, CUP president, said the organization, which is now in its 26th year, has raised $2.5 million for inspirational families and other families in need.
He said 144 people attended the sold-out kick off party, which was preceded that morning by the 2025 Cranberry CUP Summer Golf Classic at the golf course.
The CUP weekend events also included softball and cornhole tournaments and a concert Saturday evening. The softball championship game was being played Sunday with the group’s an annual picnic.
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