A Shared Partnership of Caring

Wrapping patients in love at the St. Mary Regional Cancer Center
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Representatives from LLS present St. Mary colleagues and volunteers with a donation of blankets for Cancer Center patients.

The mission of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma and improve the quality of life for patients and their families.  LLS exists to find cures and ensure access to treatments for blood cancer patients.  They serve as a voice for patients as well as a listening ear; advocating on their behalf while helping to identify treatment options and navigating through them. In addition, the LLC drives and funds research focused on finding cures for blood cancers and fosters relationships with organizations and institutions whose missions and visions regarding cancer care align with their own.  Subaru of America and St. Mary are two such organizations.

The month of June is Subaru of America’s “Loves to Care” month.  Visitors to participating Subaru retailers across the country were given the opportunity to share personalized messages of hope to members of their local communities who were fighting cancer.  These messages were then attached to large, soft, chenille blankets to be distributed to patients undergoing cancer treatments to help provide comfort and warmth.

Representatives from the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society arrived at the St. Mary Regional Cancer Center on July 6th, to deliver several cases of individually boxed blankets and messages from visitors to Reedman-Toll Subaru.  Colleagues from the Cancer Center, Infusion Room and Oncology Unit joined staff from the Foundation in welcoming them to St. Mary and accepting the donation on behalf of our patients.  Meredith Ortlieb, Senior Campaign Manager, Light the Night, shared information about the LLS, their mission, and upcoming Light the Night event.  She also left a supply of resource materials for patients and families.

This joint-effort contribution to provide support and comfort for patients, one kind act at a time aligns with the idea behind a program in place at St. Mary since 2007 – Healing Environments.  Joan Portman, the program’s founder and coordinator, joined the group in the Cancer Center to share how her experience with a loved one fighting cancer and receiving such kindnesses inspired her to bring the idea to St. Mary.  The blankets donated by LLS and Subaru will join those handmade by over 300 volunteer crafters involved with the Healing Environments program and distributed to patients in the hospital along with other comfort items.

We are so happy to receive such incredible support from individuals, businesses and other non-profits within our community.  A huge heartfelt thank you to Reedman-Toll Subaru and their patrons, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Healing Environments crafters for their efforts to bring comfort to St. Mary patients.

For more information on the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society visit www.llc.org

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