I wish Janette could see patients’ faces when I give them a gas card and tell them it’s from another cancer patient.
斯蒂芬妮(安妮)阿奎拉，LICSWIt only took 简妮特库姆斯 six weeks after she’d learned she had breast cancer to shift her focus from the mixed emotions and feelings of a cancer diagnosis to relieving other patients’ struggles instead.
Sitting next to other patients with their visitors in the waiting room or in the Infusion Suite, Janette couldn’t help but overhear them talk about their struggles. “Everyone is there fighting a different type of cancer,她说。. 于是我开始思考, how can we change the energy from a scary situation into something uplifting?”
珍妮特和她28岁的有特殊需要的儿子, 尼古拉斯, have always been very community-oriented and very involved with baking for people in need. She came up with the idea to bake and sell dog bones and use the profits to purchase gas cards for other patients at 十大网赌平台推荐癌症中心.
"Treats for Treatment" started as a way to get Nick involved, but it's also about helping other cancer patients and making healthy treats for dogs. 珍妮特和尼克一袋7块骨头卖5美元. “I know that I'm not a very savvy businesswoman when it comes to the money aspect, 但我一直认为5是个简单的数字. Four bags would be 20 dollars, which would give us a gas card. 所以，这就是一切的开始，”珍妮特说.
很快, 比如特雷蒙特披萨店, 利奥市场和梅里登市场开始出售这些骨头. Before Treats for Treatment, Janette had started a Facebook page for Nick called 精灵书架, all about the customized baskets that they used to put together for people. “I was telling the Treats for Treatment story to Nick’s growing following on Facebook, 在我意识到之前, 我把狗骨头寄到乔治亚州和佛罗里达州, 我根本不认识这些人!珍妮特笑着说。.
精英中的精英
作为狗狗爱好者, 珍妮特和尼克确保这些食物对狗来说是健康的, 只有6种配料:花生酱, 面粉, 蜂蜜, 蛋, 水和发酵粉. “And we use the best of the best for the dogs’ health: Teddy's natural peanut butter, 亚瑟王面粉和当地有机原料蜂蜜,她说。. The all-natural treats have about a 5-day shelf life but can be frozen for up to 6 months.
Janette works with the social workers at 十大网赌平台推荐癌症中心 to find the patients in most need of gas card assistance. The cards come with a heartfelt envelope that Janette purchases from Hobby Lobby and on which she hand-writes, “没有人会孤军奋战,” with a paw print to show that the card was all from dog bones. “I wish Janette could see patients’ faces when I give them a gas card and tell them it’s from another cancer patient,” says 斯蒂芬妮(安妮)阿奎拉，LICSW, an oncology social worker in 十大网赌平台推荐癌症中心’s Comprehensive Breast Program.
In 4 years, Janette has raised more than $5,300 for gas cards. “That’s not just me, this is our community saying, ‘We’re going to support this cause!’”她说。. “People who don’t even have animals buy them for their neighbors or their grand-pups. 连我的医生和护士都在买骨头!”
One hundred percent of the profits go directly to buying gas cards. 珍妮特甚至不拿钱去买食材. Several years ago, when King Arthur learned of the project, they kindly donated 8 bags of 面粉. Otherwise, Janette fronts the cost of the ingredients from her own pocket. “就像我说的，我不是一个商人. 但问题不在于此. 如果它能帮助别人，那就是我的动力所在.”
热衷于回馈社会
Going through breast cancer treatment for the third time has not jaded Janette. “我非常热衷于回馈社会，”她说. 除了珍妮特参与的治疗之外 的Prouty说 for 10 years, normally cycling for other friends who are battling breast cancer. 今年, 出于安全考虑, 她刚从第二次乳房切除术中恢复过来, 她不能按正常路线骑车. “所以今年我要去参加10公里步行!她笑着说. 由伯恩基金会赞助的年度比赛, 珍妮特设法筹到了5美元,200美元用于癌症研究和病人支持服务.
It takes a village to make this happen and people are supporting the cause.
简妮特库姆斯
俗话说，有其父必有其子. Janette’s son Nick has also made a huge fundraising footprint for 十大网赌平台推荐卫生 Children’s. 当了四年尼克队的队长, he turned a broken hip from a grand mal seizure into broken records, forming the biggest team on record at 554 members and raising an impressive $68K. 他们甚至引起了当地媒体的注意. “他就像克莱蒙特的小市长，”珍妮特笑着说. “人们都认识他。. They recognize him at Hannaford buying the ingredients for the dog bones.”
珍妮特的付出不止于此. In addition to the surgery, she is undergoing chemotherapy and immunotherapy again. 她的目标是在输液时总是有一个靠窗的座位. When she found out that one nurse was buying bird seed for all the bird feeders outside the Infusion Suite windows, 珍妮特也开始捐赠鸟食. “因为它能带来快乐! 我们必须关注那些能带来快乐的小事. Sometimes that means a bird landing on your feeder when you’re getting infused with chemotherapy,她说。.
给予与接受
珍妮特经常做冥想, 喜欢烹饪, 遛狗，花时间在大自然中, 她在哪里感到最平静. “给自己留点时间可能会感觉很奇怪, but you have to keep your cup full or you will be depleted,她说。. Having received and learned about Reiki during her own treatments, she also completed a course to become a Reiki master herself so that she could give Reiki to other cancer center patients.
珍妮特是一个给予者, but accepting help is one of many lessons she has learned through her cancer journey. “人们问他们是否需要帮助，我从来不想强加于人. But I know how good it feels to do something for someone else, 通过说“不”,我是在剥夺他们的那种感觉,她想道。. "It’s not natural for me to ask for or accept help, but I’m learning to say ‘yes’. It takes a village to make this happen and people are supporting the cause.”
Janette hopes the mission can inspire others to step outside themselves and also help patients to know they’re not alone. 她说任何愿意捐款的人, even donating a 20-dollar gas card that can change someone’s day, 可以通过尼克的脸书主页给她发消息吗 精灵书架.