CROWN POINT – “I hope it brings a smile to their face and lets them know that God loves them and someone cares for them,” volunteer Kim Ziembiec said of the care package she was decorating on Feb. 20 for a cancer patient at Phil’s Friends.
Ziembiec was one of 35 parishioners and friends from St. John the Evangelist in St. John who spent a Friday evening at the Christ-centered nonprofit agency sharing the organization’s mission to provide “support and hope to those affected by cancer through care packages, cards of hope, encouragement, and prayer.”
They grabbed colored pencils to decorate and add personal messages to greeting cards that each included a humorous riddle, used colored markers and stencils to decorate cardboard boxes and bookmarks, and filled the boxes with comforting and practical gifts including a handmade fleece blanket, a Bible, a port pillow, puzzle books, pens, a knit cap, a journal, toiletries, socks and a greeting card.
The care packages are sent around the country to cancer patients of all ages, at the request of a family member or friend. “We have sent out more than 70,000 boxes since 2005,” said Phil’s Friends group leader Jerri Toth as she directed the volunteers to supplies. As a follow-up, added Toth, each client is mailed another card of hope monthly for a year, longer if requested.
“We sent out 341 care packages last week, the highest number ever,” she added.
Brookelyn Skeryzna, pastoral associate for Service and Outreach at SJE, said the parish plans 1-2 projects a year at Phil’s Friends. “It is a very relatable place to serve and very easy to participate,” she explained. “Almost everyone knows someone with cancer. Their mission is so beautiful.”
The activity routinely draws 35-40 parish volunteers, Skeryzna added. “Any age is welcome. We have had a five-year-old coloring cards, and people into their 80’s can volunteer, too. Once they volunteer, people are invited to come again and bring their friends.”
“I know a lot of people who’ve had cancer, and I like to help,” said volunteer Joanne Stengel, whose teenage daughter, Liz Sengel, accompanied her mother to make Cards of Hope and earn service hours for the National Honor Society at Lake Central High School, where she is a senior.
Annette Kelsey is a member of the Crafting With Angels Ministry at SJE that regularly makes port pillows to comfort cancer patients who have ports installed to receive chemotherapy medication. “I came to volunteer with my Connect Bible study group tonight, but our crafters make the pillows and knotted fleece blankets all year and bring them here to the Hope Center.
“People who receive them are often surprised that strangers would send them, and it’s nice (to do it),” Kelsey added.
Toth said a quantity of boxes are decorated by a group from Our Lady Queen of Martyrs parish in Merrillville and dropped off at the Hope Center each week.
Kevin Klebs, also from the Connect Group, came to Phil’s Friends for the first time. “My wife, Cheri, and I are blessed with good health, and these people with cancer have such dire need, so we wanted to help them,” he said. “I hope when they open their box it will lighten the day and take their mind off the issues they have.”
Added Cheri Klebs: “I hope they will know that someone is praying for them.”
Phil Zielke, founder and president of Phil’s Friends, is a two-time survivor of stage 4B Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. According to the organization’s website, (philsfriends.org) he was diagnosed at 22 and underwent rigorous treatment, including chemotherapy, radiation, and a stem cell transplant. During his cancer journey, Zielke received a care package, encouraging cards, and ongoing prayer from people across the country. Inspired by these acts of love, he founded Phil’s Friends. In 2006, the organization delivered its first care package to four-year-old Jenna, who was battling brain cancer.
“I saw the announcement about tonight in the parish bulletin, and I was looking for a way to help, so I signed up,” said first-time volunteer Linda Roderick. “I hope this lets the patients know that someone is thinking of them and praying for them
To request a care package for a cancer patient, fill out a request firm at philsfriends.org/care-packages. Phil's Friends is 100% funded by donations; $100 supports one individual with a care package and a Card of Hope each month for an entire year. For questions, concerns, or to pick up your care package from one of the four Hope Centers, call (224) 653-8315.
Caption: Romaine Ostrowski (second from left), a group leader at Phil’s Friends, directs volunteers (from left) Reny Pearman, Donna Kuhlmann, Donna Parker and Connie Jasik, all parishioners at St. John the Evangelist in St. John, as they fill care boxes for cancer patients during a Feb. 20 service project at the Christ-centered nonprofit agency’s Hope Center in Crown Point. The care packages are sent at no charge to cancer patients of all ages throughout the U.S., offering support and comfort. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
