The challenges of the coronavirus pandemic didn’t stop Holly Hallman from upping the ante on her project that benefits cancer patients going through chemotherapy.
She staggered the assembly of 400 tote bags so local cancer centers wouldn’t be inundated with them during a time of limited space.
The final 100 were assembled last month by the Hempfield Area girls volleyball team, marking the end of the 2020 project.
“I love that I can include more younger groups in this,” said Hallman, a seventh-grade teacher at Wendover Middle School. “I hope that it sparks something in them, and they want to do good.”
Hallman started the Chemo Comfort Care Tote Project in 2017, and it has grown rapidly in the years since. Items for the bags are purchased through donations and dropped off at Arnold Palmer Cancer Centers in East Huntingdon, Unity and North Huntingdon and AHN Hempfield’s cancer unit.
Hallman enlists the help of her students and other young people in the district and community to create messages of support for the bags as well as put them together. The project is in memory of the mother of one of her former homeroom students and her husband’s grandmother.
Hallman’s friends and family have gotten into the spirit, helping her find bargains on items to put in the bags that typically include a blanket, puzzle books, stationery and a hat, among other things. The totes can be sponsored in memory of a specific individual.
“There’s so many people that really enjoy being a part of this,” Hallman said.
She has tapped into warehouse space for storage now that the project has grown so much since its early stages.
The final 100 totes were dropped off late last month. The other 300 were packed earlier in 2020 by Wendover seventh-graders and delivered in the spring.
Fundraising will begin soon for the next round. Monetary donations can be made at chemocomfort caretotes.com. An Amazon wish list will be posted at a later date on the project’s Facebook page.