I was getting ready to go to my new job as a telemarketer for a business publication, when I saw a commercial for the NJEA. A man dressed as a doctor said “I am a pediatric oncologist, and…” Even though I’d heard that commercial 10 times, it had never been processed by the emotional part of my brain that processed it that day. I got all choked up and teary-eyed over the fact that we need pediatric oncologists — the fact that children suffer and possibly die from cancer. I soon got over it, marveling that such a thing had never happened to me before.
What I do at my job is call businesses in my state and offer them free trial subscriptions. We hope that they will find our publication useful in conducting business and, after the free subscription expires, will buy one for the discounted price we offer to pre-trial recipients. The listing usually has the name of the company’s business manager or owner, but we are willing to talk to anyone answers the phone. I called up this one company where “Bill V.” was listed. It’s a bit of a surprise to me when the owner answers the phone himself. I spieled my spiel to him, and usually people just listen and then say yes or no, but he was asking questions about the newspaper, such as what it was like, what kind of articles were in it and so forth. Suddenly, he was making a pitch to me — saying that he was a big contributor to a charity that needed people who could talk on the phone the way I can. Then he told me that it was a charity whose mission was to help people and especially children who were fighting cancer. When he talked about the children, I could hear he was getting as choked up about them as I had been watching the commercial. He invited me to a volunteer meeting which would occur in a few days. Considering my new-found emotional connection to the issue, it was like God and the universe were trying to tell me something. I could not pass it up.
What I learned was that his charity is called sharingVillage Cancer Survivor Groups. Their mission is to improve the quality of life for people with cancer, using physical, mental, spiritual and social means. They do two things primarily. The first one is to set up cancer survivor groups where people of all ages who have cancer, at whatever stage it might be in, can meet and talk and share and strengthen each other in the fight against this cellular rebellion. The groups are led by “wounded healers”, which means a layperson and a psychologist who are either currently are fighting cancer or have successfully survived it. The second thing they do is entirely for children. They call it “Driving for Surviving”. In conjunction with the United States Equestrian Team,they take part in a multi-disciplinary program which includes art therapy, education and filmmaking, as well as the most unexpected part of it, which is that they learn equestrian carriage driving, using small carriages which are drawn by small and miniature horses who themselves are wounded healers, having suffered in some way themselves or have been rescued from certain slaughter. Both the cancer groups and the driving programs cost nothing for the participants.
If you were looking for a good group in a worthy cause that you could donate to, this is that cause. I have seen the devastating effects of cancer and cancer treatment on people I love, and the thought of giving people the wherewithal to fight cancer, to beat cancer, or simply to choose to live for one more day, is very precious to me. I hope it may be precious to you. If you would like to make a donation, please mail a check or money order to:
sharingVillage Cancer Survivor Groups, Inc.
P.O. Box 682
Far Hills NJ 07931-0682
sharingVillage Cancer Survivor Groups is as you might expect a certified nonprofit organization, and as such any donation you make to them is tax-deductible.
Please go to their website to see some photos and learn more!
http://sharingvillage.com/
