Making A Difference by Jenn Borjeson

*Chemo Angels communicate with their patients through the postal service - each patients’ questionnaire will state whether or not they wish to have e-mail contact with their Angel.

*Some folks pair up or form groups to co-angel a patient together. This is a great way to help while sharing the expense.

*Because it is such a serious commitment, Angels are encouraged to stick with one patient at a time. This way, they can really focus on "spoiling" their patient. However, if you have the time and financial resources to be a great Chemo Angel to more than one patient at a time, you certainly may.

*If you are unable to continue your commitment to Chemo Angels, you are asked to let Ms. Armstrong know as soon as possible so that she may assign another Angel to your patient.

*Patient feedback varies enormously. Some patients and Angels enjoy a friendship relationship and communicate often. Other Angels don’t hear from their patients at all. Response or lack of response from a patient is no indication of the impact you are having on that person’s life. Chemo Angels is not meant to be a pen-pal service, and it is important to remember that many patients are very ill and even though you may not hear from them, you can be sure that you are very much appreciated!

When a patient is done with his or her treatment, they receive a note from Chemo Angels offering a few options. They can decide to be done with Chemo Angels, they can be assigned to an "e-mail buddy" who will continue to offer support and encouragement mainly through e-mail, they can be referred to some terrific "cancer survivor" websites, or they can choose to stay with their Angel for a few more weeks while recovering from treatment.

As of the first week in June, there were 946 Chemo Angel volunteers, 164 card angels, and 367 Special Assignment Angels. Many of the volunteers are cancer survivors themselves, others consist of students, professionals, homemakers, retired people - people just like you and me who simply want to make a difference in someone’s life. Even though the purpose of Chemo Angels is to bring some happiness into the lives of a cancer patient, the Angels themselves often get just as much joy out of volunteering and knowing that they are making a difference.

Ms. Armstrong has taken a personal life experience and turned it into a full-time job helping others. She is a stay-at-home mom of three boys, two teenagers and a toddler. She administrates Chemo Angels from her home in the mountains of California. Her commitment and dedication to Chemo Angels can be heard in her comment, "I feel as if I have finally found my ’mission field’, and it is perfect for me! I thank God for allowing me to do this, and give Him any glory that may come out of it!"

If you’d like to make a difference in the life of a cancer patient, please check out www.chemoangels.com. If you are unable to make such a commitment, but would still like to make a difference, there are other less time-consuming options. One is to donate blood or platelets (called pheresis) at your local American Red Cross, hospital, or community blood drive. Also, there are two other web sites that you may be interested in. Hugs and Hope (www.hugsandhope.com), founded and administered by Marsha Jordan, and Make A Child Smile (www.makeachildsmile.org), founded and administered by Alexandra Davila, are two fabulous web sites that are exclusively for children. Every month, several children are featured who have some kind of illness or disease. Visitors to these web sites are asked to send a card, a small gift, or even just an e-mail to let these children know that people care. Once you visit these web sites, you will almost certainly be compelled to return to them on a monthly basis. Ms. Jordan and Ms. Davila are two extraordinary women who dedicate all of their time and energy to maintaining these web sites simply because they love children.

Don’t ever think you can’t make a difference - you can. You can make a difference by being an Angel to someone going through cancer treatment. You can make a difference to that one child you decide to send a card to. What may seem like a small gesture to you may mean the world to a suffering child or adult. You can make a difference.

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BIO:

Jenn Borjeson lives in Holden, Massachusetts, with her husband and two children. Mrs. Borjeson will be receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in Spring, 2002. She enjoys volunteering her time to help sick children, reading, writing, and being with her family.

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