Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Flower Child: Ingrid Schneider is one of the main South Bay coordinators of the Cancer Society's annual Daffodil Days fundraiser. She first became involved in 1996, after a friend's mom got the disease.
Annual fundraiser brings hope--and money to help fight cancer
The cancer society's Daffodil Days helps local programs that are fighting disease
By Kate Carter
Ingrid Schneider first got involved in the fight against cancer in 1994, after her friend's mother died of the disease.
Campbell resident Schneider didn't know she would lose her own mother to ovarian cancer just three years later.
"It's a horrific experience; it's just something that humans shouldn't have to go through," Schneider says. "My connection with the American Cancer Society was strengthened at that point. It was very important that I do whatever I could."
Schneider has taken the pain and anger she felt during her mother's two-year struggle through hospital stays, chemotherapy and radiation treatments and committed it to something beautiful and hopeful. She is one of three Santa Clara County co-chairs of a fundraising event to raise money for cancer research, prevention and patient services--the American Cancer Society's Daffodil Days.
"We all need to do whatever we can to eradicate this terrible disease," she says. "Here's something that I can do in honor of [my mother.]"
Last week, Daffodil Days kicked off its 15th year of selling orders for first-of-season yellow daffodils in optional blue glass vases, with about 70 percent of the proceeds going to the American Cancer Society's local programs and research institutions.
According to Vicki Johnston, development manager for the Silicon Valley branch of the American Cancer Society, nearly 1,000 volunteers in corporations, schools, neighborhoods and other groups and individuals throughout the county will spend hundreds of hours collecting sales and donations from Jan. 29 through March 2. Even more volunteer drivers will collect and deliver thousands of daffodil bouquets to homes, businesses and hospitals from March 26 to 28.
Last year the local effort brought in $375,000; this year, the goal is nearly $500,000.
"It's a pretty aggressive number, but we feel we should be able to meet it," Schneider says.
The money raised in the Silicon Valley goes toward the Cancer Society's programs in the valley, headquartered at its office in Campbell, Johnston says. Funds are sent to local research and development institutions looking for better treatment and an eventual cure for cancer.
Cancer Society education, prevention and support programs use the money, as well, she says. The organization provides flyers and classes to encourage people to quit smoking, to eat better and to perform breast self-exams. It also offers transportation and lodging services to cancer patients who need help getting to treatments, or who live far from treatment centers.
Johnston emphasizes the society's support efforts such as its navigation program that matches a recently diagnosed cancer patient with someone who has had the same disease, and who can guide him or her through the treatment and emotional process. It also gives patients wigs and prostheses, and shows them how to apply makeup, helping them "look good and feel better," she says.
The local fundraising effort has secured sponsorships from local companies such as high-tech firms Altera, Xilinx, JDW Enterprises and KPMG, as well as Wells Fargo Bank, Bay 101 and Citti's Florist.
Many of the four different bouquet options end up in corporate offices and on receptionists' desks, cancer society volunteers say.
But some local cancer patients also receive anonymous daffodil deliveries, a hopeful distraction from their disease.
Daffodil Days staff and volunteers encourage donors to make contributions to the "Gift of Hope;" for $15, $25, $50 or $100, the cancer society will send daffodil bouquets to homes, hospitals and treatment centers where every day is a battle in the war against cancer.
"The stories that come out of the 'Gift of Hope'... It's just amazing to see people's eyes light up," Schneider says of patients' reactions to the unexpected flowers. "It really brightens their lives, even if it's just for a week or two, to know that people are out there fighting for them."
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Petal Power: Joan Scilacci, a resident of Willow Glen for 38 years, brings flowers to the Willow Glen Convalescent Hospital every year as part of 'Daffodil Days,' an annual fundraiser held by the American Cancer Society.
Willow Glen resident Joan Scilacci decided to take the idea behind the "Gift of Hope" one step further. She knew of a whole community of people who might not expect flowers in their lives, over at the Willow Glen Convalescent Hospital, where her mother-in-law, Irma, lives.
"There are so many wonderful little old people that have nobody," Scilacci says.
So she and her friend and neighbor, Lynn Wagner, approached their women's golf club and were able to raise about $350 to bring the "Gift of Hope" to the convalescent home. In late March of last year, Scilacci and her husband, Bill, brought more than 30 bouquets to an entire wing of the hospital.
"It puts a sparkle in their eyes," Scilacci says. "It's interesting how appreciative they are of any little thing. It's so little and yet it means so much."
Scilacci, 72, says Bill, 77, and she have been volunteers throughout their married life, and have also had friends live with, and some eventually die of, cancer.
"We've had a lot of joy and happiness and good things in our lives," she says. "I feel there's a point where everybody can give. There are so many young girls that are getting [breast cancer] today. There's too much of that going on. It's a tough one."
Scilacci says she hopes to bring even more daffodils to the convalescent hospital that is home to about 140 people, even if it means more work for Bill and her.
"That's a minor detail," she laughs.
Schneider says she has worked hard in the past seven years to involve more people in the American Cancer Society and its events. She coordinated daffodil sales for her old employer, Quantum in Milpitas, and is now heading up Daffodil Days at her new job at Aspect in San Jose. She is also involved in Relay for Life, a cancer society fundraiser where members of teams receive sponsorships to circle a track continuously for 18 hours, and helped bring it to Campbell for the first time last summer.
Since her mother's death, she has even involved her family, who live in Connecticut. She says that working towards an end to cancer helps her deal with her mother's death and build better relationships with her family members and other people in the extended family of people affected by cancer.
"When you've gone through something like this, there's something that draws people together," Schneider says. "You definitely are more compassionate and understanding of what people are going through. It makes you appreciate what you have, especially if you have your health. Being involved in these events helps keep my life in perspective."
And, interestingly enough, she has drawn her friend, who first got her involved with the American Cancer Society, back into the fold. Schneider says her friend moved out of the area several years ago but has recently returned and is now a volunteer for Daffodil Days.
"It kind of came full circle," she says.
To volunteer for Daffodil Days, or to buy daffodils or make a donation, call the Daffodil Days hotline at 408.879.1032, ext. 150, or visit www.cancer.org. To donate to the "Gift of Hope" delivery to the Willow Glen Convalescent Hospital, earmark the donation for the Willow Glen Convalescent Hospital.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
