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.
Q. What made you volunteer for Look Good Feel Better 21 years ago?
I’m with Mary Kay and have been for 27 years, and the program has been widely known within the company. My job was flexible at the time, so I had the ways, means and experience to give back. When the program came to Charlottetown in 1995, I started volunteering the following year.
Just being there as a volunteer and Team Leader each and every month, I feel it helps me with things that you deal with and face in your own personal life. For example, you might not be having the most ideal day, but when you get to the workshop and you meet the participants, it puts things into perspective – you realize what you or your family members could be facing today.
I’ve been given the opportunity on maybe the worst day in a woman’s life to help her feel better – that really just changes your whole outlook.
And then you think, what if someone in my family was diagnosed? Wouldn’t it be great to think someone at Look Good Feel Better gave a little bit of their day to help them feel better and feel a little bit more like themselves.
I even felt like I was a little bit selfish at first, because sometimes I felt that I got more from the program than I was giving! As time moves forward, that feeling remains and that’s how I know I’m still in the right place, because I feel always very humbled and when I see the transformation in the ladies – that just warms my heart.
Q. What is your favourite workshop memory?
There have been so many and every month someone touches you in some way.
There is one special lady I remember. She had several diagnoses of cancer and she just beat all the odds and her attitude towards life and living and her reasons on why you needed to keep going were more than an inspiration.
But you really see that in every woman who comes in – they all seem to be able to find some kind of courage.
It’s so hard to pick one particular case, because they’re all simply amazing and an inspiration to me.
