Texas Woman Helps Women Battling Cancer Get Their Homes Cleaned – for Free!

It started with a phone call.

Years ago, Debbie Sardone, owner of Buckets & Bows Maid Service, got a call from a woman inquiring about a price quote for Sardone's cleaning service.

"I gave her our rates," she tells PEOPLE, "and she went, 'Oh I can't afford that, I'm undergoing cancer treatment' and hung up."

It was a literal wake-up call for Sardone.

"I sat there and realized I could have given her the cleaning for free, and I was disappointed it didn't occur to me until too late," she recalls.

"There's no way for me to call that first woman back," says Sardone, 55, of Flower Mound, Texas, explaining that it was in the days before caller ID.

"But she inspired me to change, inspired a policy that eventually became a nationwide nonprofit," she says.

That nationwide nonprofit is Cleaning for a Reason, an organization that provides housecleaning services free of charge to women battling cancer.

Since the organization was founded in 2006, more than 1,100 maid services across the nation and in Canada have signed up to dedicate their time to women in need.

"Maid-service owners have told us it's the most rewarding thing they've ever done in business," says Sardone.

More:
Texas Woman Helps Women Battling Cancer Get Their Homes Cleaned - for Free!