Share the kindness
When I first heard the word cancer my world silently shattered into fragments. My first thoughts turned to the life I share with my husband and two small daughters.
As the days and weeks went on, I began looking for ways for my girls (six and four years old at the time) to deal with what was happening before them – Mummy’s treatments, Mummy’s change in appearance – how do you explain all of this to two tiny humans?
I’d heard about a company that made dolls with removable hair, but after searching I couldn’t find anything I could buy for my girls. So I decided to make my own. Well not exactly make my own because using a needle and thread is as foreign to me as building an Egyptian pyramid! I needed help, so I enlisted the help of another Helen who more than knew her way around a sewing machine.
Helen graciously and generously gave me her time and expertise and created me two beautiful dolls that I could use with my girls to help explain what was going to happen to Mum.
And then I wondered – if I wanted a product like this, perhaps they would be useful for other families, either with Mums, Dads, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents – or heartbreakingly children themselves, who were facing the loss of hair due to cancer treatments.
I’m looking for a silver lining. This could be it – maybe there is a way I can use this idea to not only help other families work through the cancer discussion with their children. In the last 12 months we have established a not for profit organisation in Queensland and are now hoping to raise funds to manufacture dolls so we can provide these at a low cost to those who need them most.
Originally we were fundraising for our first 500 manufactured dolls. This GoFundMe combined with our inaugural fundraising event raised sufficient funds to allow that to happen.
We will now use any funds raised to fund pay it forward dolls to gift to local hospitals and services supporting those experiencing cancer.
All funds raised will be used to support the purpose of our organisation. You can find out more on our Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/sharethekindness/
Thanks so much, Helen x
