COPLEY, Ohio — If you have dealt with a cancer diagnosis in your family, chances are an emotional journey followed. It can include facing fears and focusing on faith. There can be setbacks, small victories and major milestones.
A group of volunteers, affiliated with a church in Copley, has found a remarkable way to give cancer patients hope and let them know they're not alone by providing them with bags filled with thoughtful gifts and messages.
"Stage 4" was founded by two former nurses, Pam Harris, of Sharon Center, and Sherry Petryszyn, of North Royalton, who both faced stage 4 cancer battles. Petryszyn, 64, passed away last year.
Harris said she came up with the name to show that something good can come out of stage 4.
"Cancer has given me a credential to be able to speak into somebody else's life with cancer. We just feel like it a way of giving back," Harris said.
Members of the group meet at St. Luke's Anglican Church and fill bags— made and donated by a woman in Florida— with blankets, water bottles, mints, word search books, mugs filled with tea, lemon and honey sticks, and several other items.
Blessing stones, painted by kids at the church, are also placed in the bags. The stones have works like "hope" and "prayers" on them.
In addition, there are several attached notes with helpful advice for patients going through chemo or other treatments.
Notes that read "for the chills" are attached to the blankets. Others connected to candy include a tip that Petryszyn liked to share: "Sherry said mints and gummies helped to settle her stomach" after treatment.
Elinore Myers, 83, enjoys writing up to 10 different messages on the cards.
"At 83, it's nice to know you can do something. They let me sit still and just write," Myers said.
More than 200 bags have been delivered so far, mostly to Cleveland Clinic Akron General, Cleveland Clinic Medina Hospital and Summa Akron City Hospital.
The group has also received, and honored, requests to ship the bags to other parts of Ohio and the country.
"People are overwhelmed when they get these bags. They just can't believe that there's someone who's thinking of them," said Jan Komjati, a volunteer and two-time breast cancer survivor.
Harris said while the group generally doesn't get to meet the recipients of the bags, she has received a stack of touching thank you cards.
One such card that stands out came from a woman in Sedona, Arizona who was sent a bag.
"She says, 'Dear Stage 4, You are all Earth angels and I'm so grateful to have received one of your bags of wonderful, needed inspirational gifts— so many different things in the box that help along this journey. It made my cry. It's so beneficial to be able to hear from a group who understands what I'm going through.'"
Petryszyn's husband, Ted, volunteers for the group and is grateful that it helps keep his wife's memory alive.
"I called her my wild Irish woman, couldn't keep up with her a lot of times," he said.
Stage 4 is able to purchase the supplies thanks to money provided through the church and private donations. Several volunteers told News 5 they're eager to help as many people as possible and would welcome more donations.
"Everybody's got a heart of gold here and there's beautiful people that do beautiful things," Ted Petryszyn said.
For information on Stage 4 ministry, visit their website.
