Scene Around Town
By Lynda Millner
HIGH MOUNTAINS
One young woman’s dream of helping children with cancer and their parents began in 2002 on the floor of her apartment with papers and a laptop. She had no table or furniture and she was a waitress at night. But Nikki Katz’s dream came true and the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation was created. She told me that when she became the organization’s executive director, she “called home to tell my parents that I had just gotten my first check for five hundred dollars. They asked, "five hundred dollars a week?’ and I said proudly, "No, a month!’”
Luckily for Katz, she’s gained a bevy of friends and supporters throughout the years. During a recent event, the Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel patio was filled with silent auction items to benefit Teddy Bear, while more than 100 eager ladies and gentlemen bid. As the bell rang we all filled the Loggia room for lunch, followed by the highlight of the day – an inspirational talk by Linda Armstrong Kelly, the mother of seven-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong.
Katz welcomed all with special thanks to the event committee: Janice Caesar, Karen Van Horn, Sandy Stahl, Betsey Moller, Nancy O’Connor, Rachel Steidl, Rosalind Amorteguy and Celeste Scheinberg. Celeste and husband, Rick, had hosted a cocktail party at their sumptuous home the evening before to say thank you to luncheon sponsors. I had a chance to chat with Linda and her new husband of four years, Ed Kelly. He’s a “keeper,” she told me, before joking, “I’m an overachiever in the married area with several marriages where issues were alcoholism, brutality and infidelity.”
Linda’s book “No Mountain High Enough: Raising Lance, Raising Me,” which came out a year ago, tells of her struggles. She was pregnant at 16 and gave birth at 17 with no parental support; she says her mother was raising three children alone since their father was an alcoholic and was never around. Linda only had a GED education. After starting as a supermarket checkout girl and working her way up the corporate ladder, she had to deal with the sudden sickness of her 25-year-old son Lance, who had stage 4 testicular cancer. It’s a miracle he’s alive but Linda’s life motto is “Never give up” and they didn’t. Lance is now training for the New York Marathon to be held November 5. Linda is on the lecture circuit and doing book signings.
During the luncheon, Mistress of Ceremonies Paula Lopez recalled, “There was one child called Olivia, whose mother had to take her on a bus from Santa Maria to Cottage Hospital for chemo treatments. The Teddy Bear Foundation was able to give them a used van. The mother was so grateful because, "now my daughter can lie down after chemo.’”
Teddy Bear’s goal is to ensure that children with cancer can have the undivided comfort of their parents during treatment and recovery. They provide low- to middle-income families with financial aid for rent, mortgage, utilities, car payments and more.
Before the event finished, 15-year-old Kelsey Goeres, who is undergoing cancer treatment, read a poem she had written for the audience. It concluded: “So when times get hard, just stay strong and smile. Because from the hospital to my bed, even I got home after a while.”
For more info on the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation at 962-7466.