Project Give-Back “Katie Kit” Details

Huge Thanks to all you Heros who have helped so far!
And send us photos of your merchandise in action…

• Visit the Katie Kit Recipients page to hear the positive impact Katie Kits are making
• Read about Katie’s own experiences with breast cancer

Jul 23, 2019 – Maybe last batch of 16 Katie Kits delivered to wonderful Gilda’s Club.  Total of 83 Katie Kits to date, a whole lotta love Katie wanted to give directly to women undergoing treatment.  Blog Post here with photo of one of Gilda’s welcoming couches / rooms for meetings.

Jun 3, 2019 – With your donations to my 2018 bike ride… we are about to order a new set of Katie Kit supplies!  The radiation clinic still has some kits on hand, so we are donating this next batch to Gilda’s Club of Metro Detroit’s Breast Cancer Group…  More Info Here if you want to donate towards this delivery!

Mar 2018 – 21 Kits delivered bringing total to 67! – See above photo for NEW BAGS and the original Lavanila is back… Blog Post here.  See Katie’s Artwork on the 4 Bags designs below!!!

Jan 2018 – With your generous donations to my two 175-mile bicycle rides last year, we have raised $1467 and are about to order a new batch of supplies for another 20 Kits!! Incredible!

Aug 1, 2016 – Delivered to the last of Katie Kits to the clinic.  Brings us to a total of 47 Katie Kits to patients undergoing radiation treatment at the local Pontiac clinic location of MHP Radition Oncology Institute!  Will start fundraising efforts for more, to extend Katie and her father Chuck’s vision of helping directly those in need of some love!  If you’d like to give (or give again as many of you have) read on below for two ways to help…

Jul 12, 2016 – Delivered a few more Katie Kits to ease supply, with the bulk of this batch to be delivered in the coming weeks when Katie’s mom Tammy can participate as well.  This batch is a total of 17 additional Katie Kits, bringing the grand total of Kits given to patients, past and future, to 47… incredible!  Katie’s love is spreading with her and her father Chuck’s vision continuing to help women undergoing radiation treatment for cancer.

Dec 21, 2015 – We got some feedback from a couple of women who received Katie Kits…  See the Recipients page.

As well we just delivered another 14 Katie Kits to the clinic.  After this we still have donations and merchandise proceeds, to buy another 14 Katie Kits when the inventory runs low again.

Aug 20, 2015 – We kicked off Project Give-Back, delivering the first batch of 30 Katie Kits and the 3 iPod Nanos to be used in the setup and treatment rooms.  Hoping that these make a difference for the women with breast and other cancers, and any men who request a Kit too.  With the lotions and aromatherapy vanilla fragrance roll-on, it was thought that women might find this more useful than men.

Sorry that Katie was not her to witness her and Chuck’s vision coming together to reality.  We lost Katie on July 13th, 2014 to metastatic breast cancer, and Chuck on February 20th, 2013 to heart issues.

We had an initial batch of 28 Katie Kits that we were preparing when Katie passed on, but sadly those got ruined with sewage in the local flooding in August 2014.  But Tammy, Katie’s Mom, funded the repurchase of the materials for the bags, and that’s where we are today!

I know Katie and Chuck are smiling today from above!  The clinic staff remembers Katie and is thankful for her wanting to give back something to those in treatment.  They all remember Katie as she made lasting impressions on many she interacted with.  Thank you to all who have donated or purchased merchandise, support this effort!

Each Katie Kit costs us about $70. Would you like to help us by supplying part of the cost of a Katie Kit?

How to help….

• 
  Above Donate to Project Give-Back via PayPal
  [with or without a PayPal account]
  — and/or —
• 

  Buy a bag and help us fund this project!

  Visit the Katie K Merchandise Store where a third of each item goes to the project (the remainder goes to CafePress) — featuring 8 amazing Katie K original designs!  Katie started creating her artwork when she was getting treatment.

We are not a non-profit, so unfortunately donations are not tax deductible.  But all money goes toward donating Katie Kits directly to cancer patients.

More details about how to help at bottom of this page…

Project Goal:
Helping Others Deal With Cancer Treatment with “Katie Kits”

Katie would like to give back to people who are having to go through some of her experiences.  Specifically she would like to improve the experience of getting radiation treatments, by providing some things that helped her through the tough, multiple sessions.  Currently we are looking to help patients where Katie got her radiation treatment (MHP Radiation Oncology Institute – Pontiac, MI location) with an initial donation of “Katie Kits” and hopefully on an ongoing basis.

Katie’s words on radiation treatment:

Scariest part of the journey for me….being burned from the inside out. You cannot move, and are in an enclosed cinder block room by yourself in a machine where you cannot hear the technicians. If you move they could burn the wrong part of you, have to relax so they can line up the beams. No one to hold your hand, in the cold rooms. Wondered how could I help?

More on Katie’s Cancer Journey

“Katie Kit” Items

Project Give-Back aims to provide breast cancer patients with a Katie Kit tote containing items to help them through the long process of repeated treatments, numbering often in the dozens.  Based on her experiences and personal usage, here is what Katie wants to give to cancer patients to let them know they are not alone:

2018 UPDATE : NEW BAGS with Katie’s Artwork and original LAVANILA is Back! Click Here to see details.

• (Previous Bag…) A custom Beach Tote printed with Katie’s artwork on both sides to carry all the goodies!  And three different colors (fuchsia, navy and mocha) so people don’t mix up the their bags in the waiting area.
• A high quality, calming IMAK eye pillow, the kind filled with small beads, that can be put in the freezer.
• The best vanilla aromatherapy oil that Katie has found in much testing:  Lavanila Laboratories Forever Fragrance Oil Pure Vanilla, that can be put on the skin and smells absolutely amazing.  Research has shown vanilla (and heliotropin) to help with relaxation during treatment.
• A pair of headphones which will not fall off during treatment, so patients can bring their own set to use with the onsite iPod Nanos with music.
• A Cool Gear water bottle to keep hydrated.  Three different colors.
• 

  Vitamin E and Aloe Lotion Capsules

  For after treatment, a bottle of Vitamin E and Aloe Vera Lotion Capsules, to use on the areas of skin exposed to the radiation.  Katie found this to work best of many things she tried.

• As well for additional moisturizing, a large bottle of Eucerin Professional Repair Extremely Dry Skin Lotion that Katie found really helpful with nose bleeds after chemo as well as other ways.
• Most importantly, the “Katie Kit” will include a note explaining how to use the vanilla oil and how research has proven aromatherapy beneficial to treatment outcome.

The radiation treatments are pretty awful being trapped in a craddle/frame for 20-30 minutes and knowing that the process is actually burning your body.  For Katie, she got a large part of her chest radiated because of her Stage 3 diagnosis and the spread of the cancer initially. The items included in the Katie Kit are the things that brought her the peace and relaxation that she needed during the numerous treatments required.

In order to fund these Katie Kits, we need your help to make this project possible.  See details below about how you can make a donation and/or browse an assortment of items for purchase, that contain pictures of some of Katie’s original designs….

Music Onsite

We donated 3 new iPod Nanos that will stay in the 2 treatment rooms, and the 1 simulation room, where patients get initially fitted for their cradle and the machine is setup.  Each iPod is loaded with an assortment of playlists for different ages and tastes, created lovingly by a dear friend of Katie’s.  Patients will have a “Menu” of music to choose from and the radiation technician can help them set up their selection on the iPod in the room.  Music was key for Katie, in order to override the very noisy machine that patients must sit in, without moving, for 20-30 minutes.  Often, patients are in an uncomfortable, personalized frame that prevents them from moving, to allow the radiation doses to be properly targeted.

Project Kickoff: August 2015

We donated an initial supply of 30 Katie Kits in early August 2015, each costing around $90.  And hopefully after that we can continue this effort by spreading word of the Katie K Merchandise Store and any of your kind donations.  We aim to provide as many Katie Kits as we can, for as long as we can.

— Would you like to help by supplying part or all of the cost of a Katie Kit??

Help by making a Donation (via secure site)

— Takes to you to secure PayPal website page.
— You don’t have to have a PayPal account to donate.
— We are not a non-profit so unfortunately donations are not tax deductible.
— All donations appreciated, no matter the amount!!
— All money go towards buying Katie Kits – no administrative costs.

And/or — Get your own products with Katie’s artwork, while helping fund Project Give-Back!

We have set up a store through CafePress.com to provide and ship a wide range of products featuring the choice of 8 amazing, original Katie K designs.  A third of each item’s purchase price comes to us [up to $15 max per item] which will help us donate more Katie Kits to cancer patients.  Katie started creating her artwork when she was getting treatment.  All proceeds are used to buy materials for Katie Kits.

• Katie K Merchandise Store
  [ www.cafepress.com/thelifeofkatiek ]

Some of the products have a more muted printing of the designs.  Just check the product images to know what each will look like.  If you want more vibrant colors, choose the lighter or darker-colored products as those will show the whites and colors in the design the best.

A Huge Thanks to you All!

Visit the Katie Kit Recipients Page to hear how this is having a positive impact for patients!

Please visit the Project Give-Back Heros! page, and also check out your Katie K Merchandise in action!

— The Katie K Team

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