Being a cancer survivor herself, Ann Merren knew she wanted to help others going through chemotherapy. Merren works for the Thirty One bag company, which has a program called “Thirty One Cares, Thirty One Gives” that gives back to community, families and women.

Merren’s Thirty One director, Tanya Wezensky, encouraged Merren to ask for bag donations which would be filled with personal items and then donated to a cancer patients.

“I thought I would get 10 bags at the most, but I ended up with 85!” said Merren.

Her daughter, Mackenzie, who also encouraged her mom to start the project, offered to help. She said she thought it would be a fun thing to do as mother and daughter as well as give back to those in treatment after experiencing what her mom went through.

Pine Street Elementary teachers Karri Bailey and Susan Boehm heard about the project, purchased bags and offered to help get the students involved. On April 29, students fromBoehm’s, Cathy McCrumb’s, Bailey’s and Chris Drew’s classrooms helped fill the bags with items such as lip balm, hand sanitizers, lotions, tissues, games, word puzzles, coloring books, crayons, bookmarks, books and lots of other items helpful to those in treatment. The students made cards for the patients to insert in each bag.

Boehm said “It was an opportunity for students to learn compassion and help others during their time of need.”

Some of the bags will go to friends or family of both students who filled the bags and those who purchased and donated a bag.  The other bags will be donated to Lemmen Holton Cancer Pavillion, the Lacks Cancer Center and Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.

Students Faith Rollandini and Nahomi Miguel-Garcia help fill bags with a Thirty One volunteer. (Photo courtesy of Laurie Zywiczynski)