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Sale scores point
against cancer
Accessorized cactuses raise
funds to help children in treatment
While social worker Jeff Poirier and his 4-year-old daughter, Emily, accessorized a little cactus plant with a hat, sunglasses and flowers, they were also helping a foundation that assists families of children battling cancer.
"I don't know what they would do without this organization," said Poirier of the pediatric oncology ward at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. "This is the organization that you can count on for the kids."
As part of National Children Cancer Awareness Month, the Hawaii Children's Cancer Foundation held an event Sunday at Kapiolani Park called the "Care Cactus Fair" to increase awareness of isle children battling cancer and the services that the foundation provides. The event included entertainment, games and food.
Also at the event, people paid $10 each for a cactus plant -- meant to represent the adversity that children with cancer face -- as a fund-raiser for the group, which aids the families of children with cancer. The foundation helps with mortgage payments, auto repair costs and travel and lodging expenses.
An estimated 200 people purchased cactus plants within the first two hours of the event.
The services are provided so families can concentrate on their children's health and not worry about finances. From July 31, 2003, to June 30, the foundation assisted 46 families with more than $100,000.
Diane Ono, president of the Hawaii Children's Cancer Foundation, said normally one parent will stop working to care for their child during treatment.
In Hawaii, families often depend on two incomes to make the mortgage, said Ono. "Your life is in turmoil during the most intense part of treatment."
Nalani Koch, whose daughter, Taja, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma when she was 21 months, received some financial help from the foundation.
The foundation covered her mortgage payments for 1 1/2 months when Taja was first diagnosed with cancer, said Nalani, who had to take time away from her job.
"We are so dependent on two incomes," said Nalani, a teacher. Her husband, Raja, is an electrician at Pearl Harbor. Taja, now 4, is in remission after undergoing chemotherapy.
The foundation also helps families emotionally, said Ono, whose youngest daughter, Mari Galiher, was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia at age 4.
"It was really, really scary, probably the most devastating time in my life," said Ono. "You think it's something that always happens to someone else."
Galiher underwent 2 1/2 years of chemotherapy. She is now 12 years old and cancer-free.
