- April 28, 2024
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The Hope to Help Foundation held its first annual Celebrate Life: Wash Away Cancer Beach Festival on June 26 at the River to Sea Preserve in Marineland, showing that even the simple act of writing in the sand can carry a powerful message.
Foundation founder Dr. Karen Toppi hosted the event, and she and others said it did not disappoint.
“Over 100 people showed up for this event, so it was a great turnout,” Hope to Help Foundation Vice Chairwoman Sarah Lantier said. “Between myself, Dr. Toppi, Patti Dodge, and the many volunteers that came to support this event, I would say that sending out the message and bringing people together with a similar interest to wash away cancer was a great success.”
The main idea of the event was a symbolic action to “wash away cancer.”
“It all started with a blessing at the beach around all the people who attended the event,” Lantier said. “Then we wrote the word ‘cancer’ in the sand near the ocean, and watched the water wash it away with help from the Hope to Help beach buckets filled with water to show that we can wash away cancer. Through the rest of the event, people from all around that ever had a previous experience with cancer or that were just touched by the message we were sending were encouraged to write messages in the sand, which most of them did.”
The festival also featured entertainment including hula hooping, face painting and other crafts; ice cream from Bruster’s; live music by Aaron Esposito; the sale of earrings and other types of jewelry to help bring support to the cancer foundation; and Qigong demonstrations that work with breathing techniques and other physical exercises to help stimulate the body.
“Many people came out and enjoyed themselves as well as the company of the others around them,” Lantier said. “This was definitely a fun event, and we hope the people who came … could help spread the word about washing away cancer, and this event — along with the many others the Hope to Help Foundation has — keeps growing toward the near and distant future.”
For more information on the Hope to Help Foundation, or to donate or volunteer, visit hope2helpfoundation.org.
