It was an evening filled with poignant moments, women sat together and shared stories of strength, perseverance and love.
More than 400 women came together to raise funds for women who suffer from cancer at the annual "Creative Tables for Cancer" event on Thursday, Oct. 3 at the Prairie Place in Arcola.
Creative Tables for Cancer is now in its sixth year and in 2012 the event raised more than $20,000 for female cancer patients. The charity is the brainchild of Darlene Olsen who collaborates with the cosmetics company Mary Kay and its "Look Good, Feel Better" program. The program is an initiative to provide women, who have undergone cancer treatment with cosmetics and hair alternatives in an effort to boost their morale. Olsen said the very first event had 160 attendants and the year after that, 320 women showed up for the cause. It has continued to grow since then and she expressed her sentiments regarding its success and the help from the community.
"I'm flabbergasted; I mean this year we were turning people away," she said
"The quality of the items that the businesses donate is just second to none, the ladies that do the tables, I mean they blow my mind every year it just goes up and up and they love it, the women love it, they love doing itI made 400 friends."
There were 39 tables this year, each with two hostesses that not only decorated the tables but also served the women thier meals for the evening. Each table has a theme, from fun candy and hospital concepts to elegant and colourful flower themes. There was also a silent auction which was popular among attendants for the evening. Olsen also explained that the "Look Good, Feel Better" program has helped many women to overcome a disease that can not only burden women mentally but also robs many women of their beauty.
"Women will walk in there very unhappy and depressed and within two and half hours of being at that program, I mean their spirits are lifted, their laughing, they make new friends. Sometimes you meet those people afterwards and they just say, that was one of the most fun things they did when they were going through treatment," she said.
This year the funds raised from the charity will be split between "Look Good Feel Better" and a recruitment initiative, to help bring health professionals to the Arcola Health Centre and the Moose Mountain Lodge. The funds will also go towards recruitment for medical clinics in Carlyle, Stoughton and Lampman.
Mary Kay's director of special events Dawn Gerry, flew in from Mississauga, Ont. to speak at the event. She spoke of Mary Kay's goal with the program and its other facets of the project. The company is now celebrating its 50th anniversary, 35 of which have also been in Canada.
"Part of the mission is to support the 'look good feel better' program and the other part is to support women who are survivors of domestic violence, we donate funds to shelters across the country," she said.
She also highlighted the strength of Creative Tables for Cancer and the impression it made on her the first time she attended the event. "I remember the first time I walked into this room and saw it, I mean you can't describe it cause the amount of creativity that's in here and the determination to raise substantial funds for the community is just exceptional."
Jenny Beaudet and Tracey Johnson are hostesses that created a sugar theme table assorted with various types of candy. They said their objective is to allow the women to have fun and let their hair down for the evening.
"We have a good time for a good cause and we've been doing it for four years now and every year we have a blast we try to do a different table every single year," Beaudet said.
