Fundraising For Cancer

Fundraising is happening all around me, popcorn, spaghetti dinner, grandchildren toy items for fundraising. Every cause from heart disease to cancer and for grand childrens trips to a baseball game. 

My sister Carrie died from leukemia in 2010, and then I was diagnosed with cancer two years later. Sometimes after my cancer treatment I was told about the Powwow for Hope, raising funds for the American Indian Cancer Foundation.

As Team Carrie Powwow for Hope Fundraiser, we have been active every year since then with a goal to raise a minimum of $500. We have met our goal and almost tripled that goal some years.

This year the American Indian Cancer Foundation decided to have the Powwow for Hope every other year. The donations had already started to come in and Team Carrie members had put together some plans for this year.

We instead looked locally and are teaming up with a local Art Gallery and a Hospital that provides gas cards for cancer appointments through a community fund and their fund partner stopped donating to the gas card fund. 

The community fund is having a bake sale next month to continue this fund. Their fundraising efforts will be matched by another foundation. They will hold off with their final tally until after our fundraiser is held in June and then their entire total will be matched.

This is exciting to be a part of a local fund for cancer services. My part in this effort is to collect more donations. I have many friends and family members that are artists so I am asking for donations. 

The benefit to the artist in addition to donating to cancer is that their art will be displayed in the gallery for the entire month of June. My cousin whose art has taken off with interest and sales will be donating an original framed painting. 

There will be beaded and quill jewelry, birch bark art, sewn works of art, for example ribbon skirts, and purses. Then there is pottery, books, calendars and so much more. 

A friend who no longer sells Tupperware donated the rest of her inventory and we will have to figure out a way to raise funds from that as well. Maybe a ticket sales for items that don't sell at the end of the month.

My brother has a double degree in history and art. The last I saw of his art was at his senior art project when he was finishing college. He works as a maintenance man for the tribe. I invited him to donate something to our sister's cancer fundraiser.

He said he would dig something out. I guessed that meant he hadn't been drawing anything. Besides that I remember his being very good at drawing zigzag men (rolling papers brand) in middle school and high school.

So I mentioned that it would be nice if he drew something, or painted something new as he has a couple months. I brought him some canvas, and art paper. Then I suggested he may recreate the zigzag man that he drew all of the time as a kid. He messaged me back, "I'll do it."

After a good laugh, I thought it may be a best seller after thinking about how many cancer patients are offered a medical marijuana prescription to help with nausea, sleep, and anxiety. If no one else purchases it, I may have to talk my son into buying it to hang in his eco garden supply store.

What I don't do in the name of getting donations. Another brother is also an artist and takes nature photos and I talked him into framing one or two of his favorites and making a birch bark frame. He doesn't do anything with them now, but he sends me one or two, now and then on messenger.

So, that means I am familiar with his photography. I've asked him to be one of the photographers for my book. He is open to that too.

Team Carrie is excited about this event. I will report back.

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First published by Mercury Press on medium.com

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