Morgan Majed (left) and her mother, Crystal Phillips, display comfort bags, filled with snacks, toiletries and other items.
When Morgan Majed’s mother, Crystal Phillips, a nurse at Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn and resident of Dearborn, was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in January, the Wayne State University senior was understandably upset and concerned.
Majed coped with the bad news by reframing how she thought about what was happening to her mother and formed an idea to work on giving comfort to women as they journey through cancer treatment.
“I was inspired by Beaumont’s Dearborn Center for Cancer Care providing a comfort bag to my mom during her first chemotherapy appointment and wanted to give back through my student organization to honor her,” Majed said. “One of our goals in Women in Medicine is to give back to the community to support women’s health. So, we should empower people starting their chemotherapy treatments.”
Phillips appreciated that comfort bag filled with snacks, toiletries and other items.
“It turned a tough day around for me and made it easier,” she said. “And then, Morgan got with her student organization and helped pay the kind gesture forward for future patients here.”
Many hands make light work
Majed along with three other members of Women in Medicine began collecting items for comfort bags.
“And then, the Women in Medicine executive board got together to make the bags. We have seven executive board members, and our mailing list has more than 300 people,” Majed said. “We did fundraising through Little Caesar Enterprises Inc., and had donations as well toward the supplies to make our ‘Chemo Bags.’ Inside are tissues, hand sanitizer, lotion, candies, inspirational quotes, notebooks and pens, water bottles and snacks. In total, we made 35.”
As she heads to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in August to begin the graduate program in public health, Majed can look back and be proud of the things she accomplished at home.
“It’s important to give back to the community, especially for people going through tough times,” she said. “A little gesture like this can go a long way for someone starting chemo. Our Chemo Bags will let people know someone’s there for them.”
For information on giving comfort to cancer patients, call Paula Garner or Christine Kupovits at 313-593-5913.