Todd, like most chemotherapy patients have trouble with eating, digestion, and/or they suffer from a metallic taste in the their mouths. While they encourage patients to eat before coming to treatment, some days Todd just didn't feel like it after getting out of bed. So, when I was getting us tea and coffee from the hospitality station, I noticed the little colored lunch sacks with the top folded down and secured with a yellow happy face sticker that the nurses had told us about. A young girl scout, whose father had been through cancer three times, was earning a badge by doing volunteer work. In this case, she made up little treat bags for the patients. Inside there was candy and a granola or breakfast bar with a personal message and her girl scout card.
Twice, Todd got a little bit of an appetite and was able to get a little snack when doing his treatment thanks to Anna. Many of the patients took advantage of these little treat bags while they were there too.
Our thanks go out to Anna in Beavercreek, Ohio for her compassion and encouragement. I''m not sure that we will ever get to meet her or thank her personally, but she touched our lives just the same with her kindness. It is obvious that she had learned from her own experiences (her dad having to go through treatment several times), that she could make a difference in other people's lives by this small yet significant work. Isn't this what God wants us to learn through the trials in our lives? How we can in turn help others? Anna did. And thanks to her parents who taught her these lessons and supported her in her project and to the Girl Scouts for being the vehicle in which young girls can serve.
I believe the Anna that you are referencing actually attends our church! I remember when she was working on this project, and collecting donations for the snack bags. So neat that her efforts had an impact on someone that we know!
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