Cut Out Cancer Crop dedicated to veteran scrapbooker/cancer survivor
| Date Posted: 3/2/2010
Cut Out Cancer Crop dedicated to veteran scrapbooker/cancer survivor
March 2, 2010
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Patti Friedman |
PINEHURST – Patti Friedman discovered scrapbooking more than a dozen years ago and was immediately bitten by the scrapbooking bug.
“I became very passionate about it,” says Friedman, who is operations director for the FirstHealth Center for Health & Fitness-Richmond. “I love it. I love what it stands for.”
Several years ago, Friedman participated in the very first Cut Out Cancer Crop, the Moore Regional Hospital Foundation’s Cancer CARE Fund fundraiser that annually attracts 100-plus scrapbooking enthusiasts for a day of scrapbook journaling and design. She has attended every one since – except for the one that she missed when she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
The 2010 Cut Out Cancer Crop that was held Feb. 20 at the Pine Needles Resort in Southern Pines was dedicated to Friedman. Proceeds from each annual event go to the Cancer CARE Fund, which assists local cancer patients with medications, prostheses, transportation and other necessities that are connected with their treatment.
According to Cindy Ward, Specialty Centers director at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, organizers of the 2010 Cut Out Cancer Crop decided to dedicate the event to Friedman because she is a known scrapbooker and a popular member of the FirstHealth family and because of her own cancer battle.
“She is one of the scrapbookers who have participated in our event, and the committee members knew that,” says Ward. “We are also very, very interested in caring for those who have cancer. We want to do anything we can to support patients with the Cancer CARE Fund.”
Friedman discovered scrapbooking through a friend and for several years was also a consultant for a national company that teaches scrapbooking techniques and sells scrapbooking products. Although she eventually became too busy with family responsibilities and her job with FirstHealth to continue teaching the skill and selling the products, she has continued her hobbyist role.
She has also passed along her passion for scrapbooking to her 16-year-old daughter, Katie, who has been scrapbooking since she was 6. Katie, her mother says, now loves photography and wants to study photojournalism in college.
Not surprisingly, many of Friedman’s scrapbook memories concern Katie and her 12-year-old brother, Patrick. Friedman especially enjoys journaling, which involves writing about a scrap-booked memory. One of her favorite journal memories involves Patrick when he was a 3-year-old in day care and a funny tale that is too long and complicated to recount here.
“Journaling allows you to capture the moments and remember them,” Friedman says. “It allows you to remember and capture the history of your family.”
For Friedman, scrapbooking assumed an even greater meaning just over three years ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. At that time, scrapbooking became not only a “stress releaser” but also a way to provide a family legacy of thoughts and memories.
“It takes away everything else,” Friedman says. “You’re focused on having fun, and you’re able to let everything else go and enjoy the present moment of scrapbooking and friends.”
Friedman is even willing to teach people who are interested in scrapbooking how to get started so they can prepare their own scrapbook legacies. She believes new scrapbookers also create new interest in the Cut Out Cancer Crop, which in turn helps raise money for the Cancer CARE Fund.
“It’s a win/win,” she says. “You learn a new art, preserve memories and give back. The Cancer CARE Fund continues to grow and benefit from it so I would like to thank the committee and vendors for all of their hard work in putting together a great event and for honoring me this year. It couldn’t have happened without their hard work and dedication.”
Although proceeds from the Cut Out Cancer Crop have always gone to the Moore Regional Hospital Foundation and its Cancer CARE Fund, the 2010 event was the first to be offered in partnership with the Foundation. As in years past, the eight-member Cut Out Cancer Crop Committee made all of the arrangements for the event and negotiated all contracts. This year, the committee also had the benefit of the Foundation’s organizational support and reputation.
“We partnered with the Foundation, but we were able to keep our autonomy,” says Ward. “The Foundation name and reputation within the community is very, very important.”
Preliminary planning for the 2011 Cut Out Cancer Crop has already begun. For more information on this scrapbooking and fundraising event or how to donate to the Cancer CARE Fund, call (800) 213-3284.
