the voice of friendsfriendstogethermi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/sept-oct-2018-draft-lad.pdf ·...

Connie’s Fall Festival

Come one Come all! Connie and her staff will be whipping up another soul-satisfying meal of roast turkey and all the

Zonta Walks for Women

The Zonta Club of Alpena is holding its 12th Annual 5K Walk/Run to raise breast cancer awareness on

September/October 2018

Up Close and Personal

2

General News 3

Explore the Journey

4

For the Women 5

News & Info For All

6

News & Info For All

7

Programs 8

Quick Notes 9

We Honor 10

Calendar 11

About Us 12

Inside this issue:

The Voice of Friends Fr iends Together - Fr iends He lp ing F r iends Touched by Cancer

trimmings!

Get your tickets for this scrumptious dinner. Adults are only $10 and Kids eat for $5. Plus, take-out orders are again available. As always, the proceeds from the event go toward Friends Together programs and services.

So mark your calendar for September 22, 2018,

Saturday, October 6, 2018, at the Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary 500 W. Fletcher Street. Register online at www.alpenazonta.com or pick up a form at Friends Together.

Breast Cancer Survivors register for free!

This year, Zonta will kick off the day with Bras Across the Bridge from 8:30am to 10am.

and tell your friends. Share an evening with Friends while listening to live music and good food.

As you stroll the beautiful grounds of Connie’s Café, be sure to enter the Big Cash Raffle—winner takes $2,000! We will also have a Turkey Board raffle and a Surf & Turf raffle.

This year we’ll celebrate with a 60’s theme and decorate our bras, not burn them!

Decorate a bra or drop off a decorated bra at Friends Togehter.

The funds raised stay in our community for services for women facing cancer. Friends Together has been a grateful recipient of funds from this event.

This summer has been unusually ‘warm.’ Hot days like today (92 degrees) take me to a carefree child-hood and I would like to share some of that story .

I’m not sure about you, but I have been an avid ‘flower power lover’ since childhood. I grew up in Troy on a small four acre farm hosting perennials, gladiolas, peonies, toma-toes, corn on the cob, pumpkins, and cantaloupe. Summers were the best! We had a roadside stand that featured the display of our fine works. I was in charge of creating bouquets and showcasing the vege-tables. Brown paper bags were packed with corn and the daily newspaper was fashioned around the bouquets once a selection was made for a special lady or occasion. Fond memories working beside my mother picking tomatoes and sink-ing my teeth into the warm ripe red ball of deliciousness still make my mouth water.

Memories...Memories...gifts of yes-terday.

When you read this newsletter, we will be saying good-bye to the sum-

mer heat and turning an eye to the beauty and serenity of fall. Looking back these summer months, I am in awe by the hundreds of persons we have helped navigate their cancer experience. We celebrated the fruits of our labors at the Five 4 Friends Celebration and the Dog Days in Rogers City. There is no denying it, Friends Together has planted the seeds of love and com-passion for many years, and now, today, we see the yield of our toil in this field of cancer.

We plant, cultivate and nurture. We embrace and encourage. We are here in the Hot Days of Sum-mer and the Cooling Days of Fall.

Two new programs will be offered this fall. ‘Caregiver Connect’ will be facilitated Monday evenings, twice monthly, by two veteran care-givers, Candee Donajkowski and Roger Mendel. Both have been long-time participants in the Friends Together Family. I am so excited and they have so much to offer!

Also new this October, ‘Screening

Isn’t for Sissies’ - an information evening hosted for our good friends in Presque Isle County.

At this time, Friends Together of-fers approximately 70 individuals different opportunities for support and care each week.

All of our programs are possible because of your continued support. Because of you, every spring I have the opportunity to plan next sum-mer’s garden and plant the seeds of the softer side of care.

Warm regards,

Judy

Up Close and Personal...With Judy

The Voice of Friends

our support programs.

283 rides were provided for cancer treatment outside this area.

48,600 miles traveled to help our

neighbors with our van service.

321 overnight stays were given for those needing treatment elsewhere.

YOU need to know that your generous donation made through the Dawn Marie Burns Promise Fund is greatly needed to continue our mission...and is more than greatly appreciated.

Dawn Marie Burns Promise Fund Years ago a promise was made that no one would go through the cancer experience alone. Now, years later, YOU are keeping that promise. This past year alone, you have impacted the lives of hundreds in the following ways:

338 support group opportunities

70 individuals each week join us in

90% of all funds raised go

directly to programs & services.

Let us be Proud!


If you are in the Rogers City area, we have a great event coming your way!

Screening Isn’t for Sissies is for everyone and it is free! Come with some friends or make a date of it.

We’ve secured some of the most talented healthcare professionals in the area to teach us how to screen and the most useful preventative methods.

Each professional will join your table once during the event. Each

Thank you to all who worked hard and those who continued to buy lunch. This donation will go straight back to the community in services and programs from Friends Together.

Another beautiful example of Friends Helping Friends Touched by Cancer.

Talk about a bunch of hard working volunteers! The crew of folks in the Rogers City area, pictured at right, take the cake, or hot dog in this case.

In one month’s time, selling only on Fridays, nearly 400 pounds of Plath’s hot dogs made there way into the hands of hungry patrons.

The total profit came to $5,002!

Screening Isn’t for Sissies

Presque Isle Works like a ‘Dog’ for Friends Together

artist living in Harrisville, created this beautiful symbol of peace.

A Serenity or Peace Pole is an international symbol found in over 180 countries around the world and dedicated as a monument to peace. The pole is decorated with a soothing theme and has the words Love, Peace, Joy and Serenity.

This fall Robin will be adding the word Friends to the pole to better represent Friends Together.

We will hold a dedication of the Serenity Pole on Sunday, September 9th at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Alpena.

All are welcome.

Serenity Bonnie Altman of St. Paul Lutheran Church is the central force behind the donation of a beautiful Serenity Pole. Robin Sedgwick, an

8 minutes a whistle will blow, signally all presenters to shift to the next table. A fun group-speed-dating style evening.

The event will take place at October 2, 2018, Peace Lutheran church in Presque Isle. Doors open at 5:30pm with the program beginning at 6pm. Mike Darga will prepare our family-style dinner.

To reserve your spot, call Leeny Ries at (989) 734-4740 or Nancy Snow at (989) 734-3760.

I’ve been thinking of my Dad lately. He left me with several pearls of wisdom I carry with me each day. They bubble up to the surface of my consciousness when I need them. Otherwise they are tucked safely away.

I often look back and wonder how he seemed so content in life. What did he know that others didn’t? And then it dawned on me, when situations arose I would hear my Dad utter, “This too shall pass.” Perhaps you’ve heard this phrase? When you were going through a difficult time someone may have uttered, “It’s ok, things will get better soon, this too shall pass.”

I never thought to focus on the statement, until recently while I stood beside a friend as she worked through a difficult time. I heard myself say those same words, “this too shall pass.”

So, I did a bit of quick research and learned many assume the statement is a phrase from the Bible. Yet, ‘this too shall pass’ never appears in the Bible. It is suggested several times. My favorite appears in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. I paraphrase it to mean that the immediate, tangible situation is temporary. The not yet seen or understood is where hope lives. When I remember this, I can relax a little during stressful

moments.

Perhaps oddly, the transient nature of life can be calming and powerful. Once absorbed into who we are, the upsetting aspects of life are less controlling. And if applied to the beautiful moments in life, they become more appreciated and valuable. Knowing time carries on and situations are in flux directs us to be present in the moments.

When we allow ourselves to be defined by our job, our social group, or our looks, for example, we are sure to be disappointed. All these are temporary. They too shall pass. Jobs can change. People grow at different rates and social groups vary. Gravity and time alter our looks each day. True permanence and contentment comes from within. Troubling emotions and situations really do diminish. Even the good times fade.

Wallowing in despair over a situation we have no control over is fruitless and wasteful. No situation ever resolved itself because someone sat paralyzed with worry. It does pass, but those actions didn’t expedite its departure.

We may not always have power over things that happen in life. We do, however, possess the ability to control how we react. Our behavior

is totally up to us and it largely determines our state of mind going forward. I’ve worked to become more mindful. For example, when walking in nature I will pause to truly look at the beauty of tree bark or the flow of a river. I try to give people my full attention, thankful for friendship. Mindfulness magnifies beauty while tempering distress.

I now believe this wasn’t just a casual Dad comment. It was a way of life. A credo. Verbalizing it engrains the principle. Repetition can serve to strengthen resolve.

There is something beautiful and foreboding about a lack of permanence. Beauty comes in the freedom this short declaration suggests. Foreboding builds because of the frightening feelings that surround the unknown. Each moment is fleeting and deserving of our attention.

If we can adopt this simple, sophisticated view of life, we too can experience the joy and peace that is borne of contentment.

This Too Shall Pass by Lesslee Dort


Explore the Journey

We are stronger when each step of the cancer journey is shared.

Are you experiencing cancer?

Empower yourself. Unite with others. Share the journey. Find your voice.

Join a Friends Together support group. See listing on page 8.


Every Wednesday at 6:00pm the group room at Friends Together provides a cozy, confidential environment filled with women of all ages dealing with cancer.

Whether you are newly diagnosed or have already undergone treatment, we are talking about something that is relevant to you.

During the month of September, we will be listening to and discussing portions of Kate Bowler’s podcast, Everything Happens.

Life isn’t always bright and shiny, as Kate Bowler knows. Kate is a young mother, writer and professor who, at age 35, was suddenly diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. In, warm, insightful, often funny conversations, Kate talks with people about what they’ve learned in dark times.

Join us on Wednesday nights in September.

Women on Wednesdays

Friends Together each Tuesday in October from 12:00-1:30pm.

Wherever you are in your cancer journey, Mindful Movement can help you heal.

Aspects impacting both the physical and mental needs will be addressed.

For more information, contact Friends Together.

Mindful Movement for Healing Friends Together welcomes all women touched by cancer to this gentle and therapeutic movement-based experience.

Designed to nourish, inspire and empower each woman healing and dealing with cancer, Mindful Movement for Healing will take place in the privacy and quietness of

“The body benefits from

movement, and the mind

benefits from stillness.”

Sakyong Mipham

We don’t have a date or place set yet, but we are determined to hold another Women’s Retreat for gals who have been impacted by cancer in any way.

This spring we will hold Friends & Flip Flops. If you or a friend would be interested, let us know.

Planning for the event has begun.

We can tell you it will be fun, informative, and free! Plus, it will be open to all women.

So, keep us in mind this fall and winter. We will be actively ‘thinking spring’ as the days become cooler.

Women’s Retreat

Designed so if you work you can stop over on your lunch hour and spend part of the time with us.

Each week we will focus on one positive affirmation quote form The Wisdom of Sundays.

Bring your lunch or enjoy ours!

Men and Women alike are welcome to drop in on our newest support group every Thursday from 11:00am—1:00pm.

Lunch Bunch is a quick break from your day with Friends Together. If you are dealing with a cancer diagnosis, we are here to listen and support you during your journey.

Lunch Bunch

Join Candee Donajkowski and Roger Mendel for our newest support group.

Every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month, these two wise and

wonderful people will lead discussions about the role of caregiver. Come to know and understand your new role.

Meet others who share a similar experience while learning about cancer issues and how to partner

in your loved-one’s care.

Above all, see how to recognize your needs and discover ways to care for you.

Caregivers Connect will meet twice

a month at 6:00pm here at Friends Together.

Each meeting the attendees are free to share, interact, and learn from each other in a safe, supportive, confidential environment.

Refreshments and light snacks will be available.

Some research led us to Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids of Michigan , a non-profit organization founded in 2003.

Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids provides hair replacement units and support services to help the self-esteem of

Someone recently came to Friends Together looking for a good place to donate real hair to be used for wigs for children.

children as they journey through their health challenge empowering them to look and feel better. The program assists young people experiencing hair loss as a result of cancer treatment, other disorders.

If you would like to donate or need a product, you can find more information at www.wigs4kids.org.

New Caregivers Group

Wigs for Kids


It is the responsibility of Friends Together and our Board to continually assess our direction in order to be sure we are accomplishing our goal of helping

people with cancer in our six county service area.

Having a strong administrative Board of Directors is paramount to successful meeting the needs of community.

If you are interested to learn more please contact us at 356-3231 and ask for Judy.

Our Board of Directors Looks Forward The Friends Together Board of Directors is made up of 14 individuals who champion the mission of Friends Together.

Over the next two months, this group of dedicated individuals will meet for two extended meetings that will serve to strengthen them individually and as a team.

It is our mission to be the

difference in the lives of friends

during and after their cancer

experience.


This fall we are taking an evening for our annual retreat. During the evening there will be much needed time for talking about similarities and differences among the groups, topics to cover, and ideas to try.

This serves to help us all know we are not alone, as our attendees are not alone.

Friends Together has 10 weekly support groups that meet weekly. We currently serve approximately 75 individuals every week.

The leaders of our groups, our facilitators, are in charge of the content of each meeting. However, they have the resources and full support of our staff and facility.

Support comes in many shapes and sizes. Making sure our group leaders know they are supported is key to a fulfilling group experience.

Our Group Facilitators Come Together — for You

Please join us in thanking Sherry Schaedig of Walmart’s Vision Center for the donation gathered during this year’s Ramblin’ Rods car show.

This is the 3rd year the Vision Center at Walmart has set up this show and donated the proceeds to Friends Together. This event was extra special because of Sherry, her team of Santiago Beccerra, Megan Wood, Jessica Curum, Linda Szymanski and Nikki Stoinski and

store manager Mark Bayliss who contributed the food sold during the event to help people in community with cancer.

Transportation to treatment is a big barrier to care in our area. The $1,000 raised can be distributed as gas cards or perhaps fuel to fill our van to transport a someone to treatment.

Thank you to all who support us and show those touched by cancer that you care.

Ramblin’ Rods Donates to Friends

Weekly Support


In accordance with federal law and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W. Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (202) 720-5964 (voice & TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Friends Together programs are offered in partnership with:

Friends Together North If you live in or near Rogers City and have been touched by cancer, or know someone who has, please join us! Every other Monday, 6:00 pm at Presque Isle District Library in Rogers City. Facilitated by Nancy Snow. For more information call 989-464-4164 or 989-356-3231.

Caregivers Connect Meet others who share the caregiver experience. Understand your new role as caregiver. Recognize your needs. Discover ways to care for YOU. 1st and 3rd Monday, 6:00pm at the Friends Together Center. Beginning September 17, 2018.

Mindful Movement Join Desiree Nowaczyk for this gentle, unique program designed to nourish, inspire and empower each woman healing and dealing with cancer. Contact Friends Together for details. Beginning October 2, 2018!

Friends Together Live! Meet others who are coping with a variety of cancer issues, share resources and information, discuss family issues and coping strategies, and make new friends who

understand. Our evening is filled with comfort and fellowship. Tuesdays, 6:00pm

at Friends Together.

Guys Like Us Morning coffee crew of men who are coping with cancer. Join us in discussion, or just listen. 10:00am every Wednesday at Friends Together. For men only.

A Touch of Beauty Join other women at this free program designed for during and after the cancer experience. Facilitated by Nicole Stark, a licensed esthetician, utilizing all-natural products & demonstrations. Contact Friends Together for dates.

Women on Wednesdays Women united in the cancer experience—all cancers, all women, all ages. Join us for support, sharing, information & encouragement—all in a confidential, welcoming environment. 6:00 pm at the Friends Together Center every Wednesday. Support * Joy * Strength

Lunch Bunch Coping with cancer? Join us for lunch between 11am and 1pm each Thursday at Friends Together.

Life After Loss Recovering after the loss of a loved one? You are not alone. Join Megan Miller Thursday evenings, 6 pm.

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WED

THURSDAY

Your Girl Friday founder, Tara Stone, moved to Alpena in 2013 from Clinton Township, Michigan to fulfill a mission: To help people regain quality time with friends and family.


Meet AJ ! AJ Nowak is contacting people on our mailing list to verify that we still have accurate information. Plus, we may learn about some need we could fill. If you receive a call from AJ, please know he is volunteering because he believes Friends Together is a good cause and he has some time while away from college studies for the summer.

We’ve changed our water options. In order to provide the safest and cleanest options for drinking water—a very important part of our health—

Friends Together now offers both tap and Culligan water. In order to help us make the change, McCardel Culligan donated the dispenser to Friends Together.

Thank you!

Adver t i sers

Have you ever needed a little help? Well with Tara Stone’s new business, help is just a phone call away! Tara went one step further and teamed up with Cleaning for A Reason and now provides free house cleaning for cancer patients. No matter what you need help with, give Tara a call. She may be able to help you out.

Quick Notes

Today We Honor


Adver t i sers

We remember friends who have been honored or memorialized by their family and friends with this single list in each newsletter edition. Each taught us something about living well through the cancer experience. Each leaves lasting, loving memories in our hearts. We promise to honor them by doing all we can to support and care for those in northeast Michigan touched by cancer. Note: Generally, we list the names of those for whom family or friends have requested a memorial. A memorial gift is not required. We simply need to receive a note stating that you want to recognize this person’s life through our listing. We do need your name to verify that the listing is accurate. Please contact us if you have any questions about this honorary listing.

Mary Doyle

Leo Tolzdorf

Elaine Richard

Bonnie Lemons

Chuck Attwell

Flora Kniffin

Jerry Watts

Todd Butterworth

Julie Ann Mischley

And,

In honor of Jon Bloomberg on his 80th Birthday


6pm Friends Together Live

10am Guys Like Us 6pm Women on Wednesday

11am Lunch Bunch 6pm Life after Loss

6pm Friends Together North




6pm Caregivers Connect 6pm Friends







6pm Caregivers Connect 6pm Friends Together North

12pm Mindful Movements 6pm Screening RC



6pm Caregivers Connect 6pm Friends Together North

12pm Mindful Movements 6pm Friends Together Live









6pm Friends Together North




Board Retreat

Facilitators Workshop

September 26 & 27, 2018

Serenity Pole dedication

105 Prentiss

Alpena, MI 49707

Friends Together

Phone: 989-356-3231

Fax: 989-354-0813 E-mail: [email protected]

Friends Helping Friends Touched By Cancer

Check out our webpage:

friendstogethermi.org

The Story of Friends Together every way. We offer an average of

25 support group opportunities

each month, educational events

throughout the year, a thriving

transportation & lodging program

that removes common barriers to

treatment, and maintain a fully

staffed stand-alone

office. Our

organization

has proudly

walked beside hundreds

of people along their cancer

Friends Together is a non-profit

organization whose sole purpose is

to help people during and after a

cancer diagnosis. We provide free

support programs and services to

six (6) counties - Alcona, Alpena,

Iosco, Montmorency, Oscoda, and

Presque Isle. We began in 1996

when Judy Burns promised her

daughter that no one would have

to experience cancer alone, like

they did. Two decades later

Friends Together has grown in

journey. No one needs to face

cancer alone. All of this is possible

because of the generosity of our

donors and the tireless efforts of

our volunteers. Together we make

a positive difference. In all

likelihood, each of us will

experience cancer during our

lifetime. Whether you

are the patient or

the loved one,

Friends Together is here to

support you.

Non Profit US Postage PAID

Permit 157 Alpena, MI

49707

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