'Circle of Friends' memory: Pounding the Pavement for Pink in 2014

On Saturday I posted a 2019 Seymour Pink 5K memory; today a photo from the 2014 event popped up in my Facebook memories.

Likoba fashion show to benefit cancer survivors, Derby Senior Center

Circle of Friends' group members Pound the Pavement for Pink in Seymour

My 'Circle of Friends' teammates had quite a glow about them Saturday morning at the 8th annual Pounding the Pavement for Pink 5K in Seymour. 
'Circle of Friends' is a support group for breast cancer survivors at Griffin Hospital in Derby. 
The nonprofit Seymour Pink is a community's fight against breast cancer.

Pounding the Pavement for Pink in Seymour Saturday

This photo from five years ago came up today in my Facebook memories. 
I'm ready to walk tomorrow with our Circle of Friends from Griffin Hospital at the eighth annual Pounding the Pavement for Pink in downtown Seymour! 

And from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday:

Stevens Ford Lincoln, 717 Bridgeport Ave., Milford, invites you to the 10th Annual Stevens Ford Lincoln, Cars for the Cure, hosted by the dealership and Seymour Pink.
Live entertainment, raffles, prizes, and fun! First 100 entries receive GOODIE BAGS!

Recuperation journey: Fun with our 'Circle of Friends' support group

An art therapist and two art therapy students from Albertus Magnus College visited our Circle of Friends' support group at Griffin Hospital in Derby last week. 
They were so helpful and ready to guide us in a project they presented about what we hold in our hands.
We traced our hands and used them as a basis for our creations.

  Circle of friends' artwork.  

I traced a fist I made with my left hand and my fingers spread apart on my right. 
My left hand turned out looking like a foot!

My idea was the tight fist represents anxiety and pain while the open fingers of the right hand symbolize letting everything go.

Newsletter: Seymour Pink dinner, Ansonia Library book, bake sale, more

Dear readers,

Today's Valley Voice newsletter features the 11th annual Seymour Pink Pasta Dinner, Griffin Hospital's 'Circle of Friends' saying thanks, and more.

Thanks for reading!

Patti

'Circle of Friends' at Griffin Hospital in Derby enjoys photo shoot

This is a few of our 'Circle of Friends' breast cancer support group members as we posed Thursday at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital. 
The photo was taken to thank a wonderful organization, After the Storm, Inc., based in Rockfall, Ct. for its continued support. 


Stay tuned for more information in an upcoming issue of The Valley Voice newsletter. 

Newsletter: Thinking pink, Seymour Pink

Dear readers,

Our latest Valley Voice newsletter features last Friday's A Pink Night to Remember hosted by Seymour Pink, a community's fight against breast cancer.

Thanks for reading,

Patti and Ralph

Recuperation journey: Gettin' crafty with 'Circle of Friends' at Griffin Hospital

Crafty! Our support group once again enjoyed making one-of-a-kind valentines. 
Here's a sample of the cards we created at our meeting last week. 

And here's the "buffet" of craft supplies we were able to use to create our masterpieces.

Valentine-making is always a fun February meeting tradition for the 'Circle.'


Happy Valentine's Day! 

Getting ready to Pound the Pavement for Seymour Pink

Saturday is the sixth annual Pounding the Pavement for Pink 5K walk/run in downtown Seymour.
I'm sharing candid photos of friends who are members of our 'Circle of Friends' support group team participating in the 2015 and 2016 Pounding the Pavement for Pink walk/runs. 

We walk; we don't run. 
And we do have fun. 

And a supporter we met along the way.

The forecast looks to be rain-free. I'm ready to go, and I hope our team is ready too.

Recuperation journey: Circle of Friends

What a crafty group of ladies we are! 

I belong to 'Circle of Friends,' a wonderful support group for breast cancer survivors at Griffin Hospital in Derby. 
We meet once a month and tonight we decorated and wrote cards to cheer and encourage other women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer. 
We've participated in this project several times before, and it's always a fun-filled meeting. 
We use markers, stickers, and feathers, and basically tap into our creativity.
The hand-written cards filled with heartfelt messages will be sent to a nonprofit organization, Girls Love Mail, for distribution to breast cancer patients.

'Circle of Friends' at Griffin in Derby applaud facilitator on award nomination

At our Circle of Friends breast cancer support group meeting Thursday at Griffin Hospital we learned co-facilitator Donna Hayes, center, was nominated for the 17th annual Women Making a Difference in the Valley Award. 

Co-facilitator Joyce Grohe, left, announced the honor for Hayes, who is oncology social worker at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital.
Congratulations, Donna, on this recognition! It's certainly well-deserved.
When I snapped the photo at our annual ice cream social I didn't realize Grohe and Seymour Pink founder Mary Deming, right, also are recipients of this prestigious award for all they do in the community. 

The Tribute Luncheon and Fundraiser will be held at noon Oct. 5 at the Inn at Villa Bianca, Roosevelt Drive, Seymour. 

Sponsor opportunities and congratulatory ads in the luncheon’s souvenir program are available. 

Contact Dorothy Gandy at dott.g@comcast.net 

for sponsorship and ticket information. Proceeds are earmarked for the Valley Breast Health Care Fund, a donor-advised fund administered by the Valley Community Foundation.

Founded in 1999 with the support and leadership of Griffin Hospital, The Valley Women’s Health Initiative is comprised of members of the community working toward a goal of improving women’s health and quality of life in the Valley. 

Its primary goal is to reach out to any person who cannot afford breast cancer screening and diagnostic imaging costs and enable them to receive it.

'Circle of Friends' group at Griffin Hospital in Derby learns to create healing boxes

Woodbridge resident Jon Gorham Thursday discusses 'Healing Boxes,' an organization he started with his wife, Mary, a cancer survivor. 
The couple spoke at the monthly meeting of our Circle of Friends support group at Griffin Hospital in Derby. Circle of Friends is made up of breast cancer survivors.

The Gorhams demonstrated how make to the nesting boxes. It was a lot of fun. Art therapy projects bring out the silliness and creativity in some members!

Here's a photo of the three boxes I made:

Everyone made the same ones, but I was proud nonetheless that I was able to follow along.



Stay tuned for more information about Healing Boxes in an upcoming issue of our newsletter.

Circle of Friends at Griffin Hospital in Derby supports others with cancer diagnosis

DERBY - At our 'Circle of Friends' support group meeting Thursday night we created cards for friends we've never met. 
We are breast cancer survivors who meet once a month at The Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital. 

We always have a lot of laughs, and Thursday night was no exception. As always a big thank you goes out to our group facilitators, Joyce Grohe and Donna Hayes, for making the meetings memorable! 

The notes we penned for women who recently have been diagnosed with breast cancer are meant to encourage them on their treatment journey. 
Our handwritten, colorful cards will be sent to the Girls Love Mail program based in Folsom, Calif. to be read over before being distributed. 

Participants are urged to start their letters with "Dear Friend," or "Dear Sister," and to follow writing guidelines.
We had fun using stickers, feathers, and other forms of "bling," as we called it, to decorate the cards. 

Here's a sample:

Here's a photo of one of my 'Circle' friends snapping a picture of our display. 

Girls Love Mail was not around in 2011 when I was diagnosed, but I know I would have loved to receive a hand-written note of encouragement from a friend I had never met. 

Food, fun, friends found at holiday party at Griffin Hospital in Derby

DERBY - Camaraderie, caring, and celebration mark the annual holiday party Griffin Hospital's dining services gives our Circle of Friends support group. 

And this year's event was no exception. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, we sang, and we were treated to some "interesting" jokes by our resident joke teller.

And we had musical accompaniment as we sang traditional Christmas songs.

I could have used a video camera here to better capture our youngest member.

My thanks go out to support group facilitators Joyce Grohe, Donna Hayes, the dining services department including chef Walter, and all who helped make it a fun evening!

'Circle of Friends' celebrates breast cancer month at Griffin Hospital in Derby

'Circle of Friends' support group facilitators Joyce Grohe, left, and oncologist social worker Donna Hayes, address members Thursday at the seventh annual Birthday and Breast Cancer Awareness Month celebration.

The monthly meeting at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby was filled with friendship, "birthday" gifts, breast cancer awareness information, and of course, cake!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Thanks go out to those who made it a wonderful time for all of us members of the 'Circle of Friends.'

'Circle of Friends' at Griffin Hospital in Derby celebrates survivors

Donna Hayes, oncology social worker at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital, left, and hospital volunteer Joyce Grohe, co-facilitators of the Circle of Friends' breast cancer support group, strike a pose during Thursday night's ice cream social. 

I'm posting this photo as a way of saying thanks to two great ladies who run the Circle of Friends breast cancer support group. I've been a member since 2011, the year I was diagnosed. Seems like so long ago!

Last evening we enjoyed our annual ice cream social. One of our guests was Mary Deming, founder of the nonprofit Seymour Pink, a community's fight against breast cancer. She talked about the fourth annual Pounding the Pavement for Pink 5K. 

The event starts at 9 a.m. Oct. 3 in downtown Seymour, and it draws a huge crowd. The Circle of Friends will be participating for the third consecutive year.

We always have fun walking and chatting and laughing, and I'm looking forward to this year's festivities. 

If you know someone who is a breast cancer survivor, please tell them about our Circle of Friends. We meet once a month at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital. 
It's a wonderful group with which to be affiliated.

Group at Griffin Hospital in Derby makes cards to offer friendship, hope

'Girls Love Mail' initiative

DERBY - I'm a member of the Circle of Friends breast cancer support group at Griffin Hospital and at last week's meeting we got crafty. 
We took part in a nationwide initiative called "Girls Love Mail," and had fun creating cards to be sent to those who also have heard the diagnosis of breast cancer. 

Stay strong, smile, live life to the fullest, dream big. Those were some of the messages of hope we shared.

According to one of our support group's facilitators, Donna Hayes, oncology social worker at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital, Girls Love Mail collects handwritten letters and gives them to women newly diagnosed with breast cancer via cancer centers around the country.

Girls Love Mail was founded by Gina Mulligan after her own breast cancer journey. Mulligan received more than 200 letters, mostly from people she didn’t know, and realized that letters from caring people have the power to heal.

Griffin Hospital in Derby offers Pink Ribbon Pilates

Pilates instructor Brenda Martin, standing at left, with our class at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital. 

We all groaned when we learned we were going to have a photo taken at our last class on Thursday. But we smiled our way through the pain.

Special thanks go out to our instructor, Brenda Martin, for her patience and understanding as she introduced us to Pilates. The six-week course was a lot of fun and it went so quickly!

The program will be offered again. Please click here on a previous post for information.

Employee at Griffin Hospital in Derby wins plaudits

Donna Hayes cuts celebratory carrot cake at last week's meeting of the Circle of Friends breast cancer support group at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby. / Photo by Allegra Villers 

DERBY - I couldn't let much-deserved 'I Take It Personally' employee recognition go by without publicly applauding Donna Hayes, oncology social worker at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital. She is among a group of hospital employees who earned the recognition in October.

I know from experience Donna goes above and beyond to help patients work through challenges with health insurance providers and other issues. I'm so grateful for her support.

Donna performs her job with caring (and hugs) for everyone she encounters. 

Congratulations on your honor and all the best in the future, Donna!