G.R.E.A.T. Committee
Pictured: Jaime Gilden; Ashley Shaw, Cathy Wolfe; Vice President of Nursing Services; Audra Popper; and Levi Neubauer. G.R.E.A.T. Committee members not pictured - BreeAnna Adamson, Taylor Barton, Anna Valentine, and Rachael Sweedman. Photo courtesy St. John’s Lutheran Hospital.
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Local high school students give ‘Hope’ to chemotherapy patients
by St. John’s Lutheran Hospital
June 18, 2009
Hope comes in many forms, but for Chemotherapy patients at St. John’s Lutheran Hospital, hope comes wrapped up in a little blue bag these days. Thanks to the compassion of a group of local high school students known as the G.R.E.A.T. Committee, chemotherapy patients at St. John’s now receive "Great Hope Bags" when they come in for treatment.
Following in the footsteps of Tracy Anderson of Marysville, WA, a breast cancer survivor and creator of "Heart Love Bags & Baskets", area high school students provide chemotherapy patients with blue bags that contain several comfort items for these patients.
Each bag made by the G.R.E.A.T. Committee includes a hand stitched hat for head warmth, lip balm, antibacterial lotions, thank you cards, pens, chocolate, book marks, spiritual literature, prayer cards, informational literature about cancer and treatments, hard candies, and magnet from the American Cancer Society.
The G.R.E.A.T. Committee is a small group of students that strives to build strong community relationships through their volunteer actions, as well as creating a fun and safe environment in the high school for students to interact. Their name comes from the Libby High school slogan which ties all of it’s goals into one of the five letters of the word GREAT, including specific goals under each of the following headings – graduation, responsibility, enthusiasm, attitude, and try.
"We do many different things throughout the year including dances and movie nights, as well as basketball, chess, dodge ball, and badminton tournaments. The G.R.E.A.T. Committee also organizes several fundraisers and benefits to raise money for cancer and other groups fighting cancer such as Wings," stated Levi Neubauer, member of the committee.
The good will of this young committee doesn’t end there! Neubauer continued, "In the next year, we plan to release a batch of bags every three months, and these new bags will contain everything that is in the current bags, as well as ginger herbal teas, bandanas, puzzle books, and more! Some of the items in these bags have been donated to the committee for this specific use, but several of the items were purchased from the G.R.E.A.T. Committee’s general fund."
According to Linda Matthews, RN, OCN at St. John’s, the bags have lifted the spirits of many patients already. "I received 19 ‘Great Hope Bags’ from the G.R.E.A.T. Committee. I have already passed out 12 of those bags, and it has definitely put a big smile on the faces of my cancer patients. They can’t get over the fact that young people are taking such a positive and active role in helping cancer patients."
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