Orland Park woman, Oak Lawn charity glad to deliver
40 Easter baskets go to families across Southland having to deal with cancer
Families across the Southland dealing with cancer were cheered up the last two weekends in March by Easter baskets put together by Maria Stefanos.
The Orland Park resident teamed up with Oak Lawn-based Christmas without Cancer to deliver 40 custom baskets to families in Mokena, Orland Park, New Lenox, Mount Greenwood, Alsip and Homewood. Stefanos has been creating Easter baskets to donate for roughly 20 years, but this year, her second working with Christmas Without Cancer, was the first time she took part in delivering them.
“I had never seen any kids open up my baskets, and it was so gratifying, heartbreaking, heartwarming,” she said. “It was everything. It was awesome.”
Stefanos said she started creating baskets two decades ago, first with a close friend and then a couple of other helpers. They purchased materials at a discount following Easter every year and held onto them for the following years’ baskets.
“We’re really good clearance shoppers,” she said. “We find things on clearance, we stock up.”
They donated those baskets to townships, churches, schools, Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn — anyone they thought could use a lift for Easter.
“It’s just something we love doing,” Stefanos said.
Two years ago, that group effort came to a halt, and Stefanos found herself with plenty of supplies still on hand. Serendipity struck when Stefanos was in the stands to watch her son play football for the RedHawks at Marist High School. She heard something about Christmas Without Cancer, a nonprofit that provides basic necessities as well as gifts to Chicago area families stricken with cancer, typically at Christmastime. Stefanos approached the organization with an idea for the spring.
“Maria’s just an angel,” said Renee Copeland, Christmas Without Cancer’s vice president. “Maria was a stranger and … she just jumped in. She made these beautiful baskets and wanted us to give them to some of our families. It gives our organization a chance to reach out to our families again and say, ‘How are you doing?’ ”
They teamed up for the first time last year, but Copeland said the spring effort was particularly important this Easter, as the COVID-19 pandemic halted many of the organization’s events and outreach.
With the families Christmas Without Cancer serves facing isolation while already struggling, it made those connections all the more important.
“It’s just sad,” Copeland said. “These families are going through so much. I don’t think Easter ever crossed their minds.”
Despite the additional hardships of the past year, Copeland said people have been incredibly generous. That has allowed the organization to continue its work. In particular, Mount Greenwood’s Letz Box and the Tom Hopkins Memorial Foundation stepped up with a toy drive that allowed Christmas Without Cancer to add toys and other surprises to the Easter deliveries.
The baskets Stefanos makes are each age appropriate and include candy, gift cards and other items. She said she spent about five hours a day over several days putting them together.
“It’s very time consuming, but I love them,” Stefanos said.
Baskets were also delivered March 27 and 28, reaching families as far west as Aurora, Plainfield and Channahon, in addition to the Southland. The Easter Bunny helped with the deliveries, doing meet and greets with children on the route.
“I think it added a whole other level of excitement for the children,” Copeland said.
Copeland said those moments are important for families struggling with cancer. But they also leave a lasting impression on the people who volunteer their time to the nonprofit.
One of the group’s stops March 20 was the Bracken family, of Chicago, that lost 2-year-old Finley to neuroblastoma in September 2020. As Finley’s siblings, Teagan, Molly Kate and Macie, took a picture with the Easter Bunny, a rainbow appeared in the photo on the first take.
“Mom instantly started crying when I showed her,” Copeland said. “A true sign Finley was with us on Sunday.
“It was just a really special moment I’m always going to remember.”
For more information about Christmas Without Cancer, go to christmaswithoutcancer.org.