In celebration of Look Good Feel Better’s 25th year in Canada, we’ve named 25 Heritage Heroes who have either 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.
Joanne Tremblay is one of those Heroes for her unwavering support and advocacy as a volunteer for nearly two decades in Quebec.
Q. How did you become a LGFB volunteer 17 years ago?
It all started with my mother’s cancer. She was a woman who liked to look good and there she was, dealing with the physical impacts of treatment. A trained esthetician, I could help her take care of herself.
One day, I was at a professional event away from home when I noticed a Look Good Feel Better kiosk; they were recruiting volunteers for their workshops.
When I came back home, I gathered all the necessary information to set up Look Good Feel Better workshops in my area a few months later.
Q. What made you remain a volunteer all these years?
A thousand answers come to mind: to give back and to share my beauty knowledge; for the huge satisfaction of seeing, after a workshop, all these faces light up even just for an afternoon. Each workshop brings special moments.
When someone takes care of themselves during the illness, I like to believe that it’s a step toward healing.
Q. What is your favourite workshop moment?
I do remember someone specific. When the workshop was held in the hospital, there was a lady who had signed up multiple times but was not able to make it because she was in palliative care.
A few weeks before Christmas, I went to her and delivered the workshop although she was hospitalized.
She was so happy; and I had one of the most wonderful afternoons of my life. I never forgot this woman.
Seventeen years have passed with virtually the same team members as in the beginning, and I still feel the same satisfaction when I help women feel good about themselves.
