The University of Virginia Women's Club involvement in "Ramona's Room" of the UVa Cancer Center is both a sad and heartwarming story. Many of you have asked to know more about it, and I am happy to share the story with you.
~ Verna O'Connell, UVA Women's Club Philanthropy Committee Chairwoman |
Ramona
Ramona Burwell was a longtime, active member of our Club. In 1991, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was a mother of 4 children, the youngest only 10 years old. She and her husband, Dr. Lawrence Burwell, a UVA cardiologist, had many friends in the Charlottesville community and elsewhere. To know Ramona was to love her: her smile, her intelligent mind, her sense of humor, and her loving, caring manner toward everyone.
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Diagnosis & Treatment
During the next 4 years of cancer treatment that involved surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, she continued to stay active, involved with her family and friends. She was always positive about the future. One time we were talking about how fragile life is and she told me that she had decided certain things because of that. First, not one of us really knows how long we have to live. Second, we should do what we enjoy and choose to be with the people who make us happy. Third, we should treasure every day and the time that is given to us, no matter how long or short that time is.
Ramona fought her disease with all the strength she had, but the cancer continued to invade her body and in September 1995, she died.
Honoring Her Memory
Our Club had formed a Philanthropy Committee in 1993, though we had not yet undertaken any projects. In October 1995, the Committee, under the leadership of then President, Rachel Vanden Bout, decided we should offer our Club members the opportunity to make donations to a fund that would make a collective contribution in Ramona's memory to the UVA Cancer Center, where she had been a patient. Ramona's friends, both members and nonmembers of our Club, and her family overwhelmingly responded to our idea. During the next year, the Fund grew to over $1000.
The Birth of Ramona's Room
Working with Diane Cole, Education Coordinator at the Cancer Center, Missy Shenkir (President 1996-97) and I were involved in the planning of a Health Festival to be held in April 1997. It would focus on cancer awareness and women's midlife health issues. By that time, Ramona's fund had grown to over $2000, and we were able to fund three proposals for Cancer Center programs. The grants given were: $500 toward printing materials for educating patients in preparation for breast surgery; $500 for books in the Cancer Center Lending Library; and $1100 to Fannie Utz and Jeanne Erickson, Cancer Center nurses who had been involved in Ramona's treatment. They wanted to establish a special room, dedicated to her, where patients who suffer hair loss during treatment could obtain head coverings such as hats and scarves at no cost and freshly styled wigs on loan for as long as necessary. The awards were made during a luncheon immediately after the Festival that the Cancer Center gave in Ramona's memory.
You Just Never Know...
Another noteworthy thing occurred when the keynote speaker for the Festival and luncheon, Vivian Pinn, MD, was invited. Dr. Pinn was, and still is, Director of Women's Health Research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. She was one of the first African-American women graduates of the UVA Medical School. Her speaking schedule was booked for the year, but she willingly accepted our invitation because - a surprise to all of us - she and Ramona had grown up together. Her mother and Ramona's mother were classmates and best friends in college. Her interesting talk had special meaning therefore, and she began it with a picture taken at a birthday party she and Ramona had attended when they were 5 years old.
Ramona's Room Dedication
In November 1997, Ramona's Room was opened for use at the Cancer Center and dedicated at a ceremony attended by her family, friends, many UVA Women's Club members, and Health Center staff who had known her. At that time, we were able to grant another $900 that we had received after the Festival and luncheon.
Continued Support
The UVA Women's Club Executive Committee voted to continue our support of Ramona's Room by inviting members to make donations during the year in honor or memory of friends and family who have or have had cancer. In 1998, we donated more than $1000 at an event that was covered by Channel 29 News.
By November 1999 we again had received enough generous donations to our Philanthropy Fund to donate $750 for replenishing the supply of hats, caps, and scarves that are used by grateful patients. The use of Ramona's Room had dramatically increased in the last 2 years, and the Cancer Center now considers it to be an invaluable patient resource.
The Poster
Funds from the 1999 Charlottesville Women's Four-Miler have been used to create a poster and brochure to inform cancer patients throughout the Center about the Room. I would like to share an interesting story regarding the picture that is used on the Ramona's Room poster.The picture, called "The Red Madras Headdress," was painted by Henri Matisse, who used his wife as the model. The original is in the collection of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. Ramona and I saw the painting at an exhibit at the National Gallery in 1993. I told her that I thought it looked so much like her it was amazing. She argued that Madame Matisse was much prettier. I -and others of her friends - disagreed. When Ramona's Room was dedicated in 1997, I had a copy of that picture framed to be hung in the Room. When the image for the poster was being chosen, it was decided that the Matisse painting would be appropriate. The Barnes Foundation generously agreed to allow its use without any fee. It is a beautiful way to remember our friend Ramona.
Making A Donation
If you would like to make a donation to this continuing UVA Women's Club Philanthropy Project, you may send a check to:
The UVA Women's Club
PO Box 5714
Charlottesville, VA 22905
Please make the check payable to "UVA Fund" and note on the check it is for "UVA Women's Club/Charitable Fund."
Also include a note telling us your name, the name of the person in whose memory or honor the donation is made, and name and address of the person to whom an acknowledgement should be sent .
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