In celebration of Look Good Feel Better’s 25th year in Canada, we’ve named 25 Heritage Heroes who have helped the charity make it to 25 inspiring years of helping women and teens with cancer feel like themselves again, or currently play an important role and provide a powerful voice to keep the program alive for years to come.
Each of our 25 Heritage Heroes – one for each year of our program – exemplifies the very essence of Look Good Feel Better’s mission to empower and support women with cancer.
When Dolores Adams’ six-year-old grandson was diagnosed with Leukemia, she turned to her 24 years of experience as a Look Good Feel Better volunteer.
“As I was going through that, I thought, ‘How am I going to do this?’” Dolores recalled of his diagnosis four years ago. “I just thought of what I’ve learned from Look Good Feel Better and thought, ‘Yes, I can do it.’”
“I drew all my strengths from what I learned from each and every one of those women over the years.”
After three-and-a-half years of treatment, her grandson is now 10-years-old, doing well and “growing like a weed,” she said with a laugh.
Adams, one of Look Good Feel Better’s very first Halifax volunteers, exemplifies the charity’s mission to support and empower women with cancer, which is why she’s been named a Heritage Hero.
“The first session that we did, I thought, ‘I don’t know if I can do this,” she said, explaining that her emotions almost got the best of her when the program was first brought to the East Coast in 1993. “Then I thought, ‘You’re not here for yourself – you’re here for these women.’”
“It’s my way of giving back and helping these women feel good about themselves.”
Adams has been an integral part of Look Good Feel Better in Nova Scotia. She helped start the teen workshop in Halifax, recruits volunteers and is always ready when media opportunities arise.
“I really enjoy doing what I do with Look Good Feel Better, because these women they really need a boost,” she said. “When we’re done, it’s so marvelous to see the difference from when they come in the door to the time they go out and that just makes you feel so good.”
While Adams has countless memories from more than two decades of volunteering, it’s the comments from one teen that stand out ithe most: The young girl told her, “This shouldn’t be called Look Good Feel Better – but Look Amazing Feel Better!’”
