Almost twenty years ago, Sharon Van Meter was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Then she found a tumor behind her ear that was treated with an experimental radio frequency to shrink the tumor. In 2002, Van Meter was diagnosed with ovarian and cervical cancer. Van Meter, a three-time cancer survivor, whose cancer experiences have inspired her to donate her time to charity events benefiting hospice organizations who care for cancer patients, travels the country cooking first class meals to raise funds.

As a child, Van Meter was a gymnast who trained to join the 1972 Olympic team. After that, she went on to become the first woman to graduate from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, a professional culinary school. According to the Baxter Bulletin feature article about Van Meter, she says her parents were originally against her career choice. Her father wanted her to follow in his footsteps as a lawyer. "It was 1973, I didn't speak French and I ended up at this school with 573 boys," she said. "I cried for the first three months I was there." Van Meter said she passed the time by sending telegrams and calling home. She complained to her mother that the school didn't even have a bathroom for her so she had to stand up like the men. "She sent me a telegram, which I still have today, that said, 'I love you very much. Learn to stand,''" Van Meter said. "That's when the girl in me quit crying and the athlete in me came out to compete." Van Meter faces cancer in much the same way as she has with all of her life endeavors, as an athlete, pressing forward and forging her own path.
Photo credit: Kevin Pieper

Supermodel Rachel Hunter is leading the TK Maxx and Cancer Research UK GiveGet charity clothing donation campaign to raise £2 million for cancer research. TK Maxx and Cancer Research UK are handing out thousands of GiveGet donation bags throughout the month of March. UK's GiveGet charity drive runs from March 18th to April 2nd, and during that time, the public is asked to donate unwanted good quality clothing, books, music, DVD's and other household items.

"We are really excited by the GiveGet campaign as we hope it will help us raise vital funds for Cancer Research UK to continue its research into the causes, treatment and prevention of cancer. We rely heavily on the public for donations and a national campaign of this scale, made possible by TK Maxx, provides a huge boost to our fundraising efforts," states Simon Ledsham, Director of Retail for Cancer Research UK.

"I am hoping everyone will join me in having a clear out and help to make this year's GiveGet the biggest charity collection ever," said Rachel Hunter, who is asking Brits to get behind the second GiveGet drive, after a survey found six in ten have at least five clothing items they have not worn in the past two years. Rachel Hunter's ex-husband, Rod Stewart, is a thyroid cancer survivor.

In 1948, Einar Gustafson, 12, was a child being treated for cancer by Dr. Sidney Farber, considered a pioneer of modern chemotherapy. Gustafson was selected to speak on Ralph Edwards national radio program, "Truth or Consequences," and to protect his privacy, was simply called "Jimmy" for the broadcast. During the national broadcast, held in the boy's hospital room, Gustafson visited with his heroes from the Braves baseball team, as they stood by his hospital bed. The show raised more than $200,000 dollars from listeners to the benefit of Dr. Farber's research and Children's Cancer Research Foundation. The Jimmy Fund was born.

Einar "Jimmy" Gustafson went on to make many public appearances at The Jimmy Fund events, and was considered an inspiration to many people in New England. Then Gustafson disappeared. For years, everyone at the Children's Cancer Research Foundation, renamed the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, believed the boy had died, because cure rates for pediatric cancers were so low during the era in which he was treated. Gustafson remained anonymous until 1998, the 50th anniversary of the original radio broadcast.

After his return to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Gustafson went from years of public anonymity to celebrity status. People Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and newspapers nationwide, told the story of Einar "Jimmy" Gustafson. He was named honorary chairman of The Jimmy Fund. Today, The Jimmy Fund, working toward "a world without cancer," enjoys the major fundraising efforts of the Boston Red Sox, Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, Jimmy Fund Council of Greater Boston, The Pan-Massachusetts cross-state bicycle ride, Challenge Scooper Bowl ice cream extravaganza, The Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, and many other organizations who raise funds for the charity. Great things can happen from the simplest of beginnings.

Keli's father is a brain cancer survivor. Brain cancer took away her father's freedom to get around because he isn't able to drive and it has taken away much of their time together because he ends up living where he works, due to that lack of freedom. Cancer makes Keli angry. In middle school, she shaved her head and donated her locks of hair to Wigs for Kids. Since her father's brain cancer diagnosis, cancer has taken away many friends and family. Now her close school friend, Kiersen, has a mother who is battling breast cancer.

Cancer keeps making Keli angry. Yesterday, she decided it was time to shave her head again, this time as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Keli asked that a dollar donation be made, for each of the six inches of hair shaved from her head. Like her mother Keri, who runs each day for someone who has been diagnosed with cancer, raising money for Relay for Life as she runs, when cancer makes you angry, you do something about it. You do what you can. Keri runs. Keli donates her hair for wigs. Cancer can make us angry, but it does not have the power to defeat us, as Keli and Keri prove in exponential acts of giving.

Here's an exponential idea. What if, each time someone did a good deed for someone else, the good deed was paid back by paying it forward to three additional people? In turn, each day, each person, having received a good deed, did a good deed for three more people. According to the Pay It Forward Movement, based on the novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde, in just two weeks 4,782,969 people will have been touched by the pay it forward principle. In cancer awareness for the needs of cancer patients, there are many who live by example with generosity and giving.

• At Alvin Primary in Alvin, Texas, one of Missy Nichols third grade student class projects was collecting change for "Pennies for Patients." In three weeks, they collected over $1500.00 for a charity organization for children with leukemia.
  

• Megan Bahnmiller, age 8, decided three years ago to grow her hair out for the purpose of having it all cut off. Megan is donating her hair to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that gives hairpieces to financially disadvantaged kids suffering from long-term medical hair loss. Approximately 8,000 people a month nationwide donate hair to Locks of Love, with 80 percent of donations coming from children.

• Leena Bourne, age 11, started Leena’s Love Beads for Leukemia. Realizing the costs of her father's cancer treatment medications and the amount of money that is needed for cancer research, Leena started making bead bracelets and selling them. Within one year, she presented a check to the Canadian Cancer Society for $6000.

• Natalie Kehl, was 12 years old when she had a skin cancer scare. As a result of her experience, she created and distributed sun-safety kits to 117 schools. She speaks at many events, and has organized fundraisers for the purchase of a new MRI machine for the Windsor Cancer Centre.

• At Highlawn Elementary, Ms. Clemons fourth grade class donated 2,000 hats, scarves and stuffed animals to Where Love Grows, for children with cancer.

Good people, good deeds and good news deserve all the appreciative recognition the world can give them. Do you know of a person, or group project, that has benefited cancer patients or the cancer community? You are invited to share their story in the comment area following this post.