By Kevin Gilby
CRAIK — A year-long school project dedicated to giving aid and comfort to people receiving cancer treatment has come to an end.
Inspired by a presentation given by a former student and ovarian cancer survivor Ashley Luther, members of the Students Representatives Council and the School Community Council set about following her lead and decided to help others by creating “chemotherapy bags.”
Throughout one’s treatment for cancer, chemotherapy sessions often last four to five hours or more the students learned. During that time, patients are unable to leave the facility for snacks or distraction and, if not prepared, boredom can quickly set in.
Each grade of the school was tasked with compiling a list of items that would be helpful to the patients.
With a little bit of imagination, and a lot of empathy, the students quickly determined the bags would need to be stocked with hard candies, water, juice, socks, books, lotions, and sometimes, toys among other items.
Lists in hand, students went home to ask for donations from friends, family, and community members to get the items needed and even obtained donations from some businesses.
Each bag was tailored to be specific for the needs of patients at different ages and interests. While some of the bags were earmarked for people known to the school, the majority of the bags were donated to accepting patients at the Allan Blair Cancer Centre in Regina.
Familiar with the hardships and loneliness treatment can cause, Grade 12 student Drayden Selinger surprised his mother Arlene when he informed her of what the school was planning to do.
Arlene Selinger, a cancer survivor herself, was overjoyed to learn of the care packages and quickly volunteered to add an extra special contribution.
During her treatment, she wanted to thank the volunteers that spend each day walking through the cancer centres giving patients and family members free coffee, juice and biscuits. While her initial offering of a financial contribution was declined, Arlene’s offer of homemade pillows was gladly accepted.
“Making these pillows gave me a purpose when going through my treatments,” Arlene said. “It was uplifting to receive thank you cards and notes from people I didn’t even know, but going through a similar experience as myself.”
Asked if the school would donate chemo bags again, Drayden said, “I don’t really hear a lot of people helping out with chemo bags or giving out extra stuff for people going through this, so I think it’s a really good idea to keep continuing this idea in the near future and further.”