Wonderful things just keep happening ... It is as though there is a divine source at work behind the scenes. Every business owner I have approached has agreed to join the program with a product donation. We sure live in a generous community.
Nushin at Today's Natural Solutions gave me dozens of different types of samples from skin creams and scar gels to vitamins. Dr. Kyle Chin (my very talented dentist from Uxbridge Dentistry) is going to give us mouth wash samples and The Yoga Mat in Stouffville has donated free yoga class passes and will outline and include a series of breathing exercises to help people release stress. Tania (from The Yoga Mat) is also 'rallying more troops' to get more product donations from local busiess owners in Stouffville. I am hoping to get The Markham Stouffville hospital's oncology ward on board so we can drop off bags there on a weekly basis as well.
So far in 6 weeks we have increased our product donations to seven and after this week we will have delivered 32 'care packages'. Donations from local businesses in Stouffville, Port Perry and Uxbridge will serve their markets and the Toronto area if they so choose. And we are still just getting started! Please let your friends and family know if they have been recently diagnosed or are starting treatments in the GTA, Uxbridge, Port Perry or Stouffville to contact me so I can get a 'care package' to them. Keltie@theshoppes.ca We will be working on a hand out to give out so even more people can make use of the service.
My long time high school friend Dana who lives in T.O has generously donated her time to help me stuff the 'cae packages' and to deliver the next series of bags to Mount Sinai this week. She picked up 48 stainless steel water bottles from Strate Brand in T.O and they will be included in the bags this week. I will be picking up more supplies - 'Be Grounded' essential oil roll ons from Elemi Organics in Uxbridge and chamomile teas and catalogues from Richer's Herbs tomorrow to add to the bags. I still have extra pens from my acountant at BDO, journals and samples from Today's Natural Solutions. My husband Dave as created a draft for the new website page that will be on The Shoppes Nesletters website for now so that we can get our message out via the world wide web and launch a special section so people can donate if they like. A good friend of my mother's recently asked to make a donation so we figured a Pay Pal component to the site would work well.
If there are any volunteers or business owners who like to donate their time or products please let me know. Wish List - Organic lip balm, kleenex packs, phone calling cards and a company to donate to fund a binder with extra pockets for appointment cards, a calendar and space to keep informational brochures. Thanks so much to all those who have comtinued to support me and our wonderful cause.
Stay tuned for more exciting news!
The Rainbow Connection of Courage
My big sister always taught me to smile...
Monday, August 2, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
A friend told me that blogging was a great way to tell people your story - this is mine...
The Rainbow Connection of Courage was founded this past June as a tribute to my sister Corinne Elizabeth Kent who left this world on May 3rd, 2007. She had cancer, but that was not what defined her. Instead she inspired people with her strength and courage, she wrote poems and stories and uplifted people with her warm smile, generous spirit and her wonderful sense of humour. Corinne was an angel, brought here to teach us about life and remind us of the important things that we are here to learn.
She had an idea one day as she fought through her third round of chemotherapy - why can't everyone have access to complementary therapies to lift their spirits as they navigate their way through cancer treatments. It was said that a dad had donated a year's worth of reflexology treatments at Cor's UCLH cancer ward to support those undergoing treatments since his daughter had been treated there and subsequenly died a year earlier. Cor enjoyed those treatments as they helped calm her and ease the pain she felt, but rarely mentioned. And so an idea was born...we thought we would work on it together but Cor' s secondary cancer was a sarcoma that kept coming back. After she died it took me quite awhile to work through my grief. The loss of a big sister, best friend and confident hits hard...and such a loss never really heals but it was Cor's idea that made me realize that I had an important mission to fulfill and she would be there with me all along, in spirit.
Three years later after recovering my own breast cancer diagnosis and treatments I was reminded of Cor's idea as I navigated through similar tumultuous waters and it all started to come together...I got free advice from my lawyer Randy Hoban and my accountant Randy Hickey (BDO) who told me to start a not for profit company instead of a foundation or charity due to the cost and time constraints. And so The Rainbow Connection of Courage was born...
I started funding it with some personal money and spoke to my nurse at mount Sinai (where I had my treatments) and she loved the idea. My oncologist did too! From there I started buying the bags, tissue paper and the items that helped me through my own treatments. I bought journals and pens and then approached a local merchant in Uxbridge for a product donation. Elemi Organics' essential oil 'Be Grounded' roll ons helped me stay calm during my tests and through my chemotherapy treatments. Ginny Van Veghal owner, creator and visionary of Elemi Organics ( www.elemi.com) said yes right away to being a part of our program and gave me 5 'Be Grouded' essential oil roll ons to start and a promise to continue her support. And the rest is history!
The amazing thing is that my daughter Victoria had asked for donations to the breast cancer foundation and to save the sharks foundation in lieu of birthday gifts from both friends and family for her 13th birthday at the end of January and the money was still in an envelope in her room as I was still finishing my treatments. As I started The Rainbow Connection of Courage she said - "Mom I want you to have this money to fund your and auntie Corinne's not for profit company". Her generous heart made me cry...And, after totalling up all our expenses thus far I realized that the money Victoria raised from her birthday has paid for all our pens and journals, the bags and tissue paper to date. The total was exactly $160 and that is what we have spent! The world works in mysterious ways...
My accountant from BDO in Uxbridge (bdo.ca) has also since donated pens, I got a donation from Aku Richter at Richter's Herbs (richters.com) for a lovely calming chamomile tea and then I received a donation for 200 stainless water bottles a year from Strate Brand (strate brand.com) and Brocks' department store has promised to give us some cozy socks. Nushin from Today's Naturaal Solutions in Uxbridge found out what I was doing and gave me tons of samples of creams and vitamins to include. Our company The Shoppes Newsletters is donating 2% of our gross sales on our larger double issues to the cause and I have numerous people say they want to help volunteer their time or donate when we are an official foundation. It's all coming together...
My husband Dave is working on our website page and I am looking for more product donations. Our wish list includes a telephone company calling card, meditation CD, lip balm and more...
I am meeting my friend Dana in Toronto the first week of August to put together more bags for the Mount Sinai clinic and I am headed to Markham Stouffville Hospital this week to find a connection there to give out more 'care packages' in their oncology clinic.
There are a lot more stories to come...
A special thanks to my husband Dave for your ongoing emotional support and to your company Creative Media Communications for donating your time and wonderful design skills to help me design the logo and for paying for the printing to promote The Rainbow Connection of Courage.
If you know of someone that has been recently diagnosed or who is undergoing chemotherapy treatments in Uxbridge, Port Perry, Stouffville, Markham or Toronto please email keltie@theshoppes.ca or call me at 905-862-3368 so I can get them a 'care package'.
The Rainbow Connection of Courage was founded this past June as a tribute to my sister Corinne Elizabeth Kent who left this world on May 3rd, 2007. She had cancer, but that was not what defined her. Instead she inspired people with her strength and courage, she wrote poems and stories and uplifted people with her warm smile, generous spirit and her wonderful sense of humour. Corinne was an angel, brought here to teach us about life and remind us of the important things that we are here to learn.
She had an idea one day as she fought through her third round of chemotherapy - why can't everyone have access to complementary therapies to lift their spirits as they navigate their way through cancer treatments. It was said that a dad had donated a year's worth of reflexology treatments at Cor's UCLH cancer ward to support those undergoing treatments since his daughter had been treated there and subsequenly died a year earlier. Cor enjoyed those treatments as they helped calm her and ease the pain she felt, but rarely mentioned. And so an idea was born...we thought we would work on it together but Cor' s secondary cancer was a sarcoma that kept coming back. After she died it took me quite awhile to work through my grief. The loss of a big sister, best friend and confident hits hard...and such a loss never really heals but it was Cor's idea that made me realize that I had an important mission to fulfill and she would be there with me all along, in spirit.
Three years later after recovering my own breast cancer diagnosis and treatments I was reminded of Cor's idea as I navigated through similar tumultuous waters and it all started to come together...I got free advice from my lawyer Randy Hoban and my accountant Randy Hickey (BDO) who told me to start a not for profit company instead of a foundation or charity due to the cost and time constraints. And so The Rainbow Connection of Courage was born...
I started funding it with some personal money and spoke to my nurse at mount Sinai (where I had my treatments) and she loved the idea. My oncologist did too! From there I started buying the bags, tissue paper and the items that helped me through my own treatments. I bought journals and pens and then approached a local merchant in Uxbridge for a product donation. Elemi Organics' essential oil 'Be Grounded' roll ons helped me stay calm during my tests and through my chemotherapy treatments. Ginny Van Veghal owner, creator and visionary of Elemi Organics ( www.elemi.com) said yes right away to being a part of our program and gave me 5 'Be Grouded' essential oil roll ons to start and a promise to continue her support. And the rest is history!
The amazing thing is that my daughter Victoria had asked for donations to the breast cancer foundation and to save the sharks foundation in lieu of birthday gifts from both friends and family for her 13th birthday at the end of January and the money was still in an envelope in her room as I was still finishing my treatments. As I started The Rainbow Connection of Courage she said - "Mom I want you to have this money to fund your and auntie Corinne's not for profit company". Her generous heart made me cry...And, after totalling up all our expenses thus far I realized that the money Victoria raised from her birthday has paid for all our pens and journals, the bags and tissue paper to date. The total was exactly $160 and that is what we have spent! The world works in mysterious ways...
My accountant from BDO in Uxbridge (bdo.ca) has also since donated pens, I got a donation from Aku Richter at Richter's Herbs (richters.com) for a lovely calming chamomile tea and then I received a donation for 200 stainless water bottles a year from Strate Brand (strate brand.com) and Brocks' department store has promised to give us some cozy socks. Nushin from Today's Naturaal Solutions in Uxbridge found out what I was doing and gave me tons of samples of creams and vitamins to include. Our company The Shoppes Newsletters is donating 2% of our gross sales on our larger double issues to the cause and I have numerous people say they want to help volunteer their time or donate when we are an official foundation. It's all coming together...
My husband Dave is working on our website page and I am looking for more product donations. Our wish list includes a telephone company calling card, meditation CD, lip balm and more...
I am meeting my friend Dana in Toronto the first week of August to put together more bags for the Mount Sinai clinic and I am headed to Markham Stouffville Hospital this week to find a connection there to give out more 'care packages' in their oncology clinic.
There are a lot more stories to come...
A special thanks to my husband Dave for your ongoing emotional support and to your company Creative Media Communications for donating your time and wonderful design skills to help me design the logo and for paying for the printing to promote The Rainbow Connection of Courage.
If you know of someone that has been recently diagnosed or who is undergoing chemotherapy treatments in Uxbridge, Port Perry, Stouffville, Markham or Toronto please email keltie@theshoppes.ca or call me at 905-862-3368 so I can get them a 'care package'.
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