Local artists teaming up to help cancer support group
HELPING FAMILIES HANDLE CANCER ANNUAL CHARITY ART EXHIBIT MAY 27
A local group which provides support for families with children being treated for cancer is holding a special fundraising event featuring some of the city’s local artists.
Helping Families Handle Cancer is holding their second annual Charity Art Exhibit on May 27, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Galt Museum and Archives, and will feature food, drinks and an opportunity to discover local artists.
During the event, local artist and high school student Kaitlyn Villeneuve will produce a piece of art to be auctioned on site. There will be live and silent auction items as well.
It is an opportunity to own a piece of art from a local artist while making a difference in the lives of local families.
The organization receives referrals from the Alberta Children’s Hospital along with the particular needs of a family — anything from rent, gas, groceries, parking passes, medical supplies or medication costs.
This year, the organization will reach $500,000 in support given to families since their inception. About 150 families are expected to receive assistance from Helping Families Handle Cancer.
“For us to give back to families who are on a similar journey, it really warms our hearts,” said Carie Stock, executive director. “I wish my mom would have been able to have this kind of support when we were going through it.”
When Stock was 13 months old, she cried whenever she was forced to sit up. She was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a softtissue cancer which formed a grapefruit-sized tumour in her abdomen.
Initially, doctors told her family that Stock would most likely not survive.
“They even brought a priest in and read me my last rites,” she said. “They didn’t think I was going to make it through the night. They were saying I was one of the sickest kids they’d ever seen.”
Stock was placed on a threeyear chemotherapy regime, but was taken off after two years.
“It was actually killing me faster than the tumour was,” she said.
Stock battled cancer from the time she was one to seven years old. She said her single mother was under incredible pressure during that time to focus on Stock’s illness while trying to juggle the other portions of their lives.
Topher Baptiste is the chair of Helping Families Handle Cancer, and has been involved with the organization since it was founded in 2008. He said the event is important because of the organization’s reliance on donations and grant funding.
Baptiste was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at five years old and went through a three-year treatment plan. At the age of 12, his cancer came back more seriously than it had previously, and he underwent a stem cell transplant as part of his treatment.
“We were really lucky to have a really good support system through the community and family,” he said. “But there were no real programs out there to help facilitate the need of covering medical costs and expenses, or even having someone having their heat turned off or their house foreclosed on.”
Reflecting on her illness, Stock said what happened went a long way to making her the person she is today.
“Looking back, I’m glad to have gone through what I did,” she said. “It led me to my purpose and passion in life. I’m very thankful to have had cancer.
“If you talk to a lot of cancer kids, they would say the same. A lot of kids in our program are very resilient.”
“The most unique, wonderful, amazing kids get cancer. It’s actually kind of infuriating to see happen. I don’t know why it is that way.
“They are so miraculous, half the time, that they are comforting their parents through the experience and showing them courage.”
For ticket information to the art exhibit, visit