We are back!

After a few years of "normal" life, thanks to Facebook we have reconnected with several local childhood cancer families and have a new website AND a store!

Visit us at chemomoms.webs.com. Please bear with us while we make the transition from this site to the new one. This one will stay up for a while longer.

Check out our Childhood Cancer Awareness buttons and t-shirts!

With HOPE,
Tammy

Photos!

I can't figure out how to caption these with the way the blogger is moving the pics, so just make up your own caption! haha
With HOPE,
Tammy

36 hours to go....

WE HAVE DRESSING ON THE WAY!

WE ARE SETTING UP ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE HOSPITAL AROUND 5 PM!!

Thursday, November 27 - the Jubilee Room at USA Children's & Women's, the room is reserved from all day. The actual dinners should take place between 2 pm and 5 pm.

This is what I need donated:
NOTHING!!! YAYAYAYAYAY!! :D

(I am bringing a couple of folks the ingredients to make the last of the casseroles...thanks to all!)


SERVERS: - please realize these people are not ALL serving on the same shift! Many are leaving around 4 and some are not arriving until 4!!

Sandra G
Mandy G
Heather G
Chris V & Jerry V
Mel B & Family
Tommy B & Sheena B
Natosha B & hubby
Ashley S & Lee S
Brandy P & Nicole P?
Karen M & Daughter
Lisa J & Daughter
Kathy L
Sara L
Jerry B
Brad B
Scott H
Jimmy B, Daphne & Family
Stacie G & Family?

You should get a call from me tomorrow to confirm the time you are coming and to make sure my schedule matches...THANKS FOR YOUR SACRIFICE!!!

I can't wait to get some photos on here so you can see all the hard work that has been done to make this successful! It will be a lot of work, but it would be much harder if it wasn't for so many people helping.

With HOPE & THANKSGIVING,
Tammy

Sunday night...

Still working on dressing.

I have had an offer, still waiting on the final word. In the meantime, does anybody know where I can BUY about 6-8 pans of dressing??? Email me please!
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I got the Thankful Turkey feathers done thanks to my old Sunday School class, 7th & 8th grade girls! THANKS YALL ARE THE BOMBS!


Thursday, November 27 - the Jubilee Room at USA Children's & Women's, the room is reserved from all day. The actual dinners should take place between 2 pm and 5 pm.

This is what I need donated:
FOOD:

6 Pans of dressing are NEEDED
sweet potato casserole - 4 pans - still need more!
green bean casserole - 4 pans
mashed potatoes - 4 pans - still need more (this ran out first last year)
corn casserole - 1 pan
*****I have received donations of canned vegs - I will be more than happy to bring you the pan, the corn/beans and anything else you need to make a casserole before WEDNESDAY!!***********


rolls
assorted pies, traditional Thanksgiving desserts - 4 sweet potato pies, 2 pecan pies, (1) 7 layer cookie bars, 1 apple pie
any other sides that you think would be appropriate


SERVERS: - please realize these people are not ALL serving on the same shift! Many are leaving around 4 and some are not arriving until 4!!

Sandra G
Mandy G
Heather G
Chris V & Jerry V
Mel B & Family
Tommy B & Sheena B
Natosha B & hubby
Ashley S & Lee S
Brandy P & Nicole P?
Karen M & Daughter
Lisa J & Daughter
Kathy L
Sara L
Jerry B
Brad B
Scott H
Jimmy B, Daphne & Family?
Stacie G & Family?

(let me know if you said you wanted to help and you aren't on this list!)

SERVICE POSITIONS:
Hostess/Host (stand outside the room and greet families WARMLY, check their reservations and find ready table)
Hot Food servers (must be adult)
Waitress/waiters (take orders from menus at each table, give orders to food servers, take plate to table, also serve dessert)
Drink servers (get drink orders, refill drinks, offer coffee)
Dishwashers (already filled this position)
*I also need someone to go with me door to door to the rooms where they won't be allowed to come downstairs. We will be filling orders for dinner and bringing it back to the rooms. This needs to be an adult and someone who is comfortable in that setting. PLUS WE CAN'T BE SICK AT ALL...

WE ARE SETTING UP ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE HOSPITAL AROUND 5 PM!! Hopefully we will get it all in the room that night so there won't be so much in the morning!!!

NEW UPDATE - FRIDAY

WE NEED DRESSING...
Unfortunately the place we got the frozen pans of dressing from did not have those again this year...

Anybody know where I can BUY about 6-8 pans of dressing??? Email me please!
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I also am having trouble getting quotes:
What are you thankful for?
To be answered by children currently or have survived a serious illness (cancer of course, cerebral palsy, chronic asthma, anything that puts them in a hospital setting)
I have asked EVERYONE I know (and people I DON'T KNOW) but have only had 6 responses from them!

Example: "I am thankful for my hair growing back", Emma, age 4, ALL
Can you help with this?????? Email me at chemomoms@yahoo.com

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Thursday, November 27 - the Jubilee Room at USA Children's & Women's, the room is reserved from all day. The actual dinners should take place between 2 pm and 5 pm.

This is what I need donated:
FOOD:
6 TURKEYS ARE DONATED!
6 Pans of dressing are NEEDED
sweet potato casserole - 3 pans - still need more!
green bean casserole - 2 pans
mashed potatoes - 2 pans - still need more (this ran out first last year)
cranberry sauce - done!
corn casserole - 1 pan
gravy - done!
rolls
assorted pies, traditional Thanksgiving desserts - 4 sweet potato pies, 2 pecan pies, (1) 7 layer cookie bars, 1 apple pie
any other sides that you think would be appropriate
sweet & unsweet tea (a few gallons) - done!
coffee - getting it from hospital
peanut oil - donated
6 bottles of Creole butter injector - available at Walmart click link to see the brand

DECORATIONS:
Thanksgiving table arrangements - all decorations are donated
table cloths in fall colors - all tablecloths are donated
mini-tablecloths for patient rooms donated
any fall color candles/candleholders - all candles & candleholders are donated

DISHES:
Port City Rentals has GENEROUSLY donated 100 place settings and glasses/coffee cups - I know Sandy is happy about that! ha!
I forgot to add disposable dishes since we will be delivering some meals upstairs - but that has been donated now!

SERVERS: - please realize these people are not ALL serving on the same shift! Many are leaving around 4 and some are not arriving until 4!!

Sandra G
Mandy G
Heather G
Chris V & Jerry V
Mel B & Family
Tommy B & Sheena B
Natosha B & hubby
Ashley S & Lee S
Brandy P & Nicole P?
Karen M & Daughter
Lisa J & Daughter
Kathy L
Sara L
Jerry B
Brad B
Scott H

(let me know if you said you wanted to help and you aren't on this list!)

SERVICE POSITIONS:
Hostess/Host (stand outside the room and greet families WARMLY, check their reservations and find ready table)
Hot Food servers (must be adult)
Waitress/waiters (take orders from menus at each table, give orders to food servers, take plate to table, also serve dessert)
Drink servers (get drink orders, refill drinks, offer coffee)
Dishwashers (already filled this position)

WE ARE SETTING UP ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE HOSPITAL AROUND 5 PM!!

UPDATED TUESDAY NOV 18!!

UPDATE 11/17:
Now I hear that we MIGHT need dressing - I will know for sure on Friday morning, so please check back around lunchtime on Friday!! I am still concerned about how many volunteers we have...I am hoping we have enough that nobody will really have to stay the whole 4 hours!!!

CONTINUE DOWN TO THE FOOD LIST FOR WHAT WE STILL NEED!!!

UPDATE 11/16: So I had this idea...
Since about half of the patients will be unable to come down to our dinner, since they will be neutropenic or contagious, I have always tried to take things to their room. This year, a couple of us will go door to door for the ones who can't come, take their orders (and whoever is staying with them) and bring their dinner to their room. ALSO, to make it more special, a sweet friend of mine from church is donating fabric to make mini-tablecloths for their bed table, and another sweet friend from church is sewing the hems on the tablecloths. So when we bring their food to their room, we will pull their table to the door, put the tablecloth, a centerpiece and a nice Thanksgiving card from the kids at my church, along with their food and send it back to the family! How about that idea???! I am excited about just that part alone!!!

OK KEEP READING, UPDATED FOOD BELOW>>>

UPDATE 11/14: I forgot to mention that some VERY SPECIAL students provided us with 10 completed ChemoMoms baskets!!! They were completely filled with the suggested items and wrapped with a special card. I will confirm the exact class when I get back online so you will know who did such an AWESOME job for these families! Saying that, I probably won't need any basket supplies until the first of the year!!! THANK YOU!!!

If you would like to refer to last year's information, you can click here and here to see how it worked.

This year we will be setting reservations for the families in advance. It is hard to know which families will actually still be in the hospital and which ones will be discharged to avoid spending the day inpatient, but we will know by that Wednesday night approximately how many families we will serve. Last year we served dinner to around 12 groups, but some families were only 2 people, and some had 6 or more! I hope to get a more accurate count this year! The reason we are using the reservations is because last year everyone came around the same time and there weren't enough tables to serve them all. We want to seat one family per table only.


Thursday, November 27 - the Jubilee Room at USA Children's & Women's, the room is reserved from all day. The actual dinners should take place between 2 pm and 5 pm.

This is what I need donated:
FOOD:
6 TURKEYS ARE DONATED!
6 Pans of dressing are donated
sweet potato casserole - 3 pans donated - still need more!
green bean casserole - 2 pans donated
mashed potatoes - 2 pans donated - still need more (this ran out first last year)
cranberry sauce - done!
corn casserole
gravy - some jars donated
rolls
assorted pies, traditional Thanksgiving desserts - 4 sweet potato pies donated, 2 pecan pies donated, 7 layer cookie bars donated
any other sides that you think would be appropriate
sweet & unsweet tea (a few gallons) - 2 gallons donated - still need more
coffee - getting it from hospital
peanut oil - donated
6 bottles of Creole butter injector - available at Walmart click link to see the brand

DECORATIONS:
Thanksgiving table arrangements - pretty much all decorations are donated
table cloths in fall colors - all tablecloths are donated
any fall color candles/candleholders - all candles & candleholders are donated

DISHES:
Port City Rentals has GENEROUSLY donated 100 place settings and glasses/coffee cups - I know Sandy is happy about that! ha!
I forgot to add disposable dishes since we will be delivering some meals upstairs - but that has been donated now!

SERVERS:
SG
MG
HG
CV & JV
MB & Family
TB & SB
NB & hubby
AS & LS
BP & NP?
KM & Daughter
LJ

(let me know if you said you wanted to help and you aren't on this list!)

SERVICE POSITIONS:
Hostess/Host (stand outside the room and greet families WARMLY, check their reservations and find ready table)
Hot Food servers (must be adult)
Waitress/waiters (take orders from menus at each table, give orders to food servers, take plate to table, also serve dessert)
Drink servers (get drink orders, refill drinks, offer coffee)
Dishwashers (already filled this position)

I also need a couple of people, teen girls or women to help me put the names on the table placecards. We won't have the families' names until that Thurs morning. I plan to be at the hospital around 9 am to get the final list and fill the last reservations, so sometime mid-morning I could use this help.

WE ARE SETTING UP ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AROUND 5 PM!!

Other duties as needed...

Check back every day for updated information!

Thanksgiving Dinner Plans

It seems so far away, but it's not! It is time to start planning our 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Dinner for inpatient families. You can read about last year's Thanksgiving Dinner here.

I kept most of the decorations from last year, but it is not too early to start collecting promises of donations. I will probably get the turkeys again, but I definitely want folks to start thinking about what home-cooked food they would like to make a double batch of for that day. It is so nice to have home-cooked food ANYTIME you have been in the hospital for more than just one day! I remember the desserts were especially a hit with the families last year.

We will do things a little differently this year, specifically we will schedule times for the families to come, so they are not waiting in the hall until we have an available table. We served MANY families last year, and it will take a LOT of people volunteering again this year. I wouldn't be surprised if more families came this year, based on last year's success.

For those who are new to ChemoMoms, the reason I put so much emphasis on this holiday is because it is "forgotten". Of course the community supports those in the hospital during Christmas and even New Year's, but when you think of Thanksgiving, you think of family time together. When you are stuck in the hospital for that day, it can really depress you to think of your family over at Grandma's and Uncle Craig telling his "pull my finger" jokes without you!

The ChemoMoms Thanksgiving Dinner comes complete with candles, tablecloths, cloth napkins, REAL dishes, silverware and glasses, music and a family photo. We print a menu and volunteers take families' orders and serve them. We also have fresh coffee to go with the dessert. Last year the volunteers all received monogrammed aprons for their hard work.

If you are interested in bringing your family and spending a Thankful day serving others, this is a great ministry. Just showing love to those who can't change the fact that they are in a sad situation and need to be encouraged is the only requirement for the job! You can email me at chemomoms@yahoo.com or leave a comment if you would like me to contact you about helping.

With HOPE,
Tammy