~Cookies and Chemo~

I am a thirty year veteran of the hospitality industry. Three months after moving to NYC as a Food and Beverage Manager at The Plaza Hotel, I was diagnosed with thirteen tumors on my spine. They ranged from golf ball to grapefruit sized. My life was changed forever – I believe for the better. I now have a renewed passion for life, friends and the importance of helping others in need.
In a conversation with my girlfriend about volunteering she suggested I start my own ‘thing’. I woke up the next day trying to think of something from my treatment days that made me smile… I wrote the word cookie. Cookies and Chemo followed minutes later and here I am.
As a recent cancer survivor, and the son of a breast cancer survivor, I have a clear understanding and unfortunate memories of how devastating going through Chemotherapy is.

My goal is to bring together survivors, supporters and anyone great that wants to share cookies and conversation. My hope is to eventually bring comfort to those that are going through chemotherapy. I cannot cure cancer, I can give comfort, with money, by purchasing new chairs, iPods, computers, books and other items that make sitting for six hours a day more tolerable. Not just for the patients, also the nurses and staff, for example sending in lunch once a week. Moving forward I would like to raise money for improving chemo-suites and making the best of the worst.
Mission:
Making people smile at a time when they need it most.

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On Thursday, February 11th, BP4CG will be hosting a wonderful evening at The Roger Smith Hotel. From designers to make-up artists the night will consist of ‘making-over’ two strong and courageous women currently undergoing cancer treatment.
Debbie and Marybeth are two women that we respect and support for all their efforts in such an important yet difficult arena.

Click on the link for all the details and to register for the event – we hope to see you here. If you can’t make it please spread the word, follow them on Twitter and become fans of their Facebook page.

The Noel Foundation and Beauty Pearls for Chemo Girls invite you to celebrate and support women facing cancer with our first ever chemo girl makeover fashion show.

February 11, 2010

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

The Roger Smith Hotel

501 Lexington Avenue

New York City

Join us for cocktails, food, fashion and fun featuring expert advice from the groundbreaking new book and community website Beauty Pearls for Chemo Girls — live streaming video coverage to the street and the web.

Come meet Louis Philippe and Christine DeAngelo — two of our Beauty Pearls Experts.

Goody bags include a signed copy of the Beauty Pearls for Chemo Girls book  with chocolates* to celebrate the Valentine’s tradition.

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Proceeds will benefit the Noel Foundation

The NOEL Foundation was created to commemorate the extraordinary life of Noel de Caprio. Faced with spectacular success and frightening challenges, Noel always maintained a creative, courageous approach to life. Faced with obstacles or told that “things look bad”, she would smile and politely ignore the message. Regardless of the situation, she had an uncanny ability to turn disaster into opportunity. Her inspiration remains. Her charm still lingers. Her presence is missed. And so, to encourage that same, slightly irreverent behavior in others and to ease the financial pressures that usually accompany the physical realities of living with cancer, The NOEL Foundation was founded. We help cancer survivors with quality of life issues. This is a local foundation that helps within this community. We have a volunteer board and all monies donated find their way to people who need our help.

In a medical setting that sometimes loses humanity in the interest of expediency, b.wëll seeks to bolster spirit and encourage strength. b.wëll’s immediate concerns are the physical changes that often occur during treatment. Our staff are experts in the design and care of wigs, and can also help with skin care and makeup to minimize the obvious signs of treatments. b.wëll also offers wellness services that have proved to be effective allies during treatment. It is our profound hope that b.wëll will someday be out of business. For information concerning our work…203.321.1469 x339…wig consultations can also be scheduled through our reservation line at 203.322.3445.

To learn more about  Noelle, visit www.noelle.com

To learn more about Beauty Pearls for Chemo Girls, visit our website at www.beautypearlsforchemogirls.com

Beauty Pearls for Chemo Girls Event Details and Registration

Marybeth & Debbie

Marybeth Maida is a journalist and breast cancer survivor who has worked in television, film and web for more than 20 years. She is Chief Operating and Strategy Officer for Public News Service, an independent, state based network dedicated to producing news in the public interest; President of the Beauty Foundation for Women’s Cancer Care, and vice president of the Red Bank Borough Education Foundation. Marybeth lives in New Jersey with her husband and children.

Debbie Kiederer is a 25 year veteran of the retail cosmetics industry, a digital strategist, and Founder and Principal of ChalkDust Consulting. She is an executive board member of the Hunt Hill Farm Trust, Skitch Henderson’s Cultural Center; an advisory board member of the New Canaan YMCA Diving Parents’ Association; board member of the Beauty Foundation for Women’s Cancer Care, and a
member of Cosmetic Executive Woman (CEW) and the Metropolitan Executive and Professional
Registry. Debbie lives in New York with her husband and children.

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To start 2kx (2010)  I thought long and hard about what I had actually learned in 2009. Not what on-line skills I had learned, I wanted to truly question myself and figure out if I had grown as a person in any way that I could carry over and exploit for the next twelve months. It actually came to me when I was talking to one of my new friends about how shy I am. She laughed and said “yea right”. I tried to defend my claim and explain my shyness… I failed miserably. “I WIN!” she exclaimed.  This was my moment of clarity. Between my recent ass kicking of cancer

What does not kill you makes you stronger

and my new-found voice on-line I had broken out of a lifelong shell of meekness. I had acquired a confidence that was lost when I stopped racing for the National Cycling Team.

Bringing Back This Intensity

Now I am back, confident – not cocky, pushing the limits – not wreckless and ready to embrace the extended community that we are constantly building here at The Roger Smith Hotel.

'75 Over Time Square

What I learned was that by changing my typical mode of communication I was able to find new skills and cross these skills into real life. It reminds me of the time I broke my back and lost feeling in my legs. Even after surgery I had massive loss of nerve sensation and the doctors told me that alternative nerves would start to become more active and create new paths giving me back muscle control and the ability to function. They were right. The skills I now use in real life conversations were always there, it took my on-line voice to find them.

Thank you to all the people that helped me find my voice, confidence and passion in 2009. In 2kx I am going to take more risks, be personally more vulnerable than ever, fail a bunch, have monumental successes and come out the other side a better person for it. I challenge you all to do the same.

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