Press release submitted by the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden Cancer Support Center
On Thursday, April 26th, 150 Healing Garden supporters gathered in the Nashoba Valley Winery Pavilion for an evening to raise funds in support of a unique mission; to provide therapeutic resources for all those affected by cancer, regardless of gender, cancer type, prognosis or personal finances.
The Nashoba Valley Winery pavillion. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Elegant peonies, donated by Lavender’s Florist in Groton, filled the room with spring time aroma while guests sipped crisp Winery wines and swayed to the music of Just In Time jazz quartet. A wide variety of items for raffle were spread throughout the room featuring weekend getaways, tickets to the Vermont Symphony or Boston Ballet, hand crafted jewelry, woodwork & paintings and much more. “The ambiance deliberately mirrored that of the Healing Garden, where nature, art, conversation, laughter, tears and inspiration unfold each day,” said Leigh Carpenter, director of development and communications.
With poise and grace, client Amanda shared her cancer diagnosis and discovery of the Healing Garden to a sold-out crowd, “once I found my way to their doors, I felt like I had come home to the most wonderful, caring place. The building itself is imbued with the most amazing healing energy. Once you add in the people, the whole place sparkles with magic, the magic of having a home where, as a cancer patient, either current or post-treatment, you feel as if you are seen, heard and fully supported.”
Darren Bartlett closed the evening out with a ruckus live auction, encouraging multiple bids for items such as Take Me Out to the Ballgame(s), a package of Red Sox tickets throughout the season, Island Hop, a weekend destination on Nantucket, and Ride The Rapids, a weekend adventure for white water rafting in Maine. Live auction, contagious banter, all in good fun, ultimately raised $32,700 in just over an hour.
Bidding on “Ride the Rapids.”
To support the Healing Garden, visit healinggardensupport.org to make a donation and to learn about volunteer opportunities, and future events.
About the Healing Garden
Medical care focuses on a curative treatment plan, and our services are supportive of that care. The Healing Garden Cancer Support Center provides high quality, evidence-based therapies in a magnificent healing environment, located on eight acres of lovingly created gardens on a wooded hillside in Harvard, Massachusetts. Here, without reminders of the disease and medical interventions, clients can begin treatments feeling calmer and supported. We offer a community of others to share in the journey, counseling and support groups, mind-body medicine for symptom management, stress reduction and restoration of the wellness, education about choices that contribute to health and healing, such as nutritional education, exercise, and mindfulness, expressive therapies as an alternative to talk therapy for processing/releasing emotions, programs and services to help regain control of life, both during and after medical treatment. For a detailed description of the various modalities of care and their contributions to healing visit healinggardensupport.org or contact us at 978.456.3532.
