On Monday, May 7th, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. The Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation Hope Bus will be at Centerville Bank, 777 Tiogue Avenue in Coventry.
The Hope Bus, a 38-foot pink recreational vehicle, is The Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation’s mobile resource and wellness unit. Hope Bus programs educate and comfort women with breast cancer, their family members and their friends, with special attention paid to uninsured, low-income and high-risk women.
Come make a starfish to honor someone in your life with breast cancer or to remember a loved one you may have lost to this disease.
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“The Gloria Gemma Foundation works on a healing arts project every year,” said Gloria Gemma Foundation Community Outreach Coordinator Maureen DiPiero. “For 2012, we plan to create 3,000 clay starfish to remember and celebrate Rhode Island lives touched by breast cancer.”
Starfish are appropriate for The Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation’s Hope Bus thanks not only to Rhode Island’s nickname, “the Ocean State,” but also a legend with an unknown author.
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As told by DiPiero, “There’s a beach covered in hundreds of starfish, washed up by the tide. A boy is picking them up one at a time and throwing them back into the ocean, rescuing them from certain peril. A man approaches the boy and says, ‘There are so many beaches and so many starfish dying. Do you really think what you’re doing is making a difference?”
DiPiero added, “The boy bends down, picks up a starfish, throws it into the ocean and turns to the man and says, ‘I made a difference for that one.’”
For The Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation’s healing arts project, each starfish represents an individual—patient, survivor, family member, caregiver or health professional—whose life has been altered by breast cancer, the third leading cause of death from cancer in Rhode Island. Participants will be invited to honor anyone in their lives on whom breast cancer has had a meaningful impact.
The handmade clay starfish will eventually be kiln-fired and included in a healing arts installation to celebrate the regeneration of life and the journey of faith, hope strength, courage and determination.
“Those starfish are what The Hope Bus is all about,” concluded DiPiero. “Helping one person at a time.”
From 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. you can also have a taste of Reiki offered by Deb Lynch of A Serene Soul. This event is free and open to the public.
About the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation
The Gloria Gemma Foundation was established in 2004 in loving memory of Gloria J. Gemma and to honor her courageous fight against breast cancer. The organization’s mission is to raise breast cancer awareness; increase breast health education; enhance the quality of life for breast cancer patients, as well as their families and friends; and generate funding for local breast health programs. For more information, please call 401-861-HOPE (4376) or visit www.gloriagemma.org.
About the Hope Bus
The Hope Bus was acquired with a generous donation from The Halkyard Family Fund. Initiated in April 2011, The Hope Bus outreach program has received critical financial support from Taco/The White Family Foundation, The Rhode Island Foundation, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and The Amgen Foundation. Hope Bus visits include educational, arts-based and therapeutic programming related to breast cancer awareness and early detection.
