"Beauty Blooms:" Effort to make Mother's Day special for moms with sick kids; find cure for cancer
SLINGER -- Mother's Day is a time to honor the women who have given heart and soul to their kids. But moms with children who are sick often have too much on their minds to feel appreciated. This Mother's Day was different.
An assistant track and field coach at Slinger Middle School, Rachel Womack is always moving at top speed -- but life slowed to a stop for Womack and her family about two years ago.
"My niece was diagnosed with cancer in 2014. She has neuroblastoma," Womack said.
It was hard for Womack to see her brother and family go through this ordeal. Thankfully, her niece received an "all clear" in July 2015.
Rachel Womack's niece
Rachel Womack
At that point, Womack had an idea which led to another, called "Beauty Blooms."
"I had bought some flowers and handed them out to the nurses and doctors who treated her, and just seeing the smiles on their faces, they were so appreciative of it. I had this idea -- we could do this for cancer patients' families. So on the Friday before Mother's Day, a rose will be given to grandmothers, mothers, sisters, aunts -- just as a 'pay it forward,'" Womack said.
Youngsters at Slinger Middle School prepared the roses for delivery.
Beauty Blooms
"We took flowers and tied ribbons on them with sayings on them that's hopefully going to give the patients hope, just so that they can get through this," Aidan Duchelle said.
"What a fantastic idea to bless the moms and the female family members of those kiddos fighting cancer, and just to know that these moms are going to get something right before Mother's Day to let them know that they're cared about," Shannon Koch said.
Beauty Blooms
"We are thrilled to have this idea. I've never had an idea like this before in my 25 years working with oncology, so I really, really appreciate that we are recognizing the moms," Julie Martindale, MACC Fund Center manager said.
As the MACC Fund Center manager at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Martindale sees the families and the MVP moms.
MACC Fund Center Clinic
"One of the reasons the family wanted to bring this was just to see a smile on the moms' faces. It's a long journey for cancer treatment. It's a long journey for Sickle Cell Disease. Our patients go through a long duration of treatment -- so any little piece of happiness that we are able to give the family that supports that child is phenomenal," Martindale said.
CLICK HERE to make a donation to the "Beauty Blooms" project -- and support this effort.