NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
FIGHT AGAINST CANCER INSPIRES TEEN TO REACH OUT
A radiant smile. Contagious laughter. Confidence. Poise. These are the first things you notice about Becca Solodon.
She's every inch a teenager. She loves Lucky Jeans and funky T-shirts and bright-colored, designer sweat jackets. She likes hip-hop. She wants to be a rock star.
But in endless other ways, she seems far older than 18. She has battled cancer. She volunteers to help other cancer-stricken kids. She wears a prosthetic leg, though you'd never know it if she didn't tell you.
Despite all that, she still sees the world as her oyster.
Today, Becca is a spokeswoman for the local Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, which provides financial aid to area families of children with cancer. The organization is one of two charities named as recipients of the annual News-Press Holiday Fund.
The foundation provides grants to approved families for rent or mortgage payments, car payments or vehicle maintenance costs, and bringing utility bills up to date. It also offers financial planning advice, support groups, care packages for patients' families, hotel accommodations and social events for anyone with a child being treated for cancer at Cottage Hospital. The foundation has even had cars donated to some families and once got a puppy for a cancer-stricken girl whose dog had died.
In 2004, the year it began providing aid, the foundation offered financial assistance to 51 families. This year, 85 families have received grants so far.
"To not have to worry about your rent -- that's huge," said founder Nikki Simon, 33. "I'm healthy, I work full time and I still worry about my rent. Imagine, on top of all that, $200,000 per week for hospital bills. It's insane."
The Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation's goal is simple: Relieve financial strain so parents can focus on their kids instead of their creditors. But it's about more than money. The organization also hosts quarterly "Family Fun Days" for cancer-affected families and cooperates with other area organizations on group activities aimed at keeping spirits high.
Becca is a regular at Family Fun Days and other events, serving up her characteristic enthusiasm.
It's not often you find someone who says she found life in the face of death. But it's not often you meet someone like Becca, who two years ago lost her lower left leg to a rare, aggressive cancer called soft-tissue synovial sarcoma.
But she insists that what she won in the process -- strength, hope and a belief in her future -- are irreplaceable.
"I've gained so much knowledge about myself," Becca said. "I used to be so shy I couldn't even order pizza over the phone. Now I'm speaking and singing for people, visiting kids, telling my story. I've grown a lot as a person. And I wouldn't take back anything."
The Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation was in its infancy when Becca met Ms. Simon, then a volunteer on the pediatrics ward at Cottage Hospital. Visiting kids one day in 2003, Ms. Simon wandered into Becca's room, where she was in the midst of chemotherapy. They hit it off immediately, and their lives have never been the same.
Becca was the first real recipient of the selflessness that comes naturally to Ms. Simon and lies at the heart of her foundation. Wanting simply to put a smile on the face of her new friend -- who had just learned she'd have to have her leg amputated -- Ms. Simon asked an old friend in Los Angeles if he could help get aspiring singer Becca on the radio.
Within weeks, Becca was in an L.A. recording studio laying down vocal tracks for Mariah Carey's producers. They told Ms. Carey about Becca, and shortly after her amputation surgery, Becca opened Ms. Carey's December 2003 show at the Arlington Theatre. Since then, Becca has performed at Disneyland and opened for the Bacon Brothers and the Commodores. She is working on her first full-length record with the same producers.
And it all started with Ms. Simon's simple inquiry.
"It blew me away that somebody we'd never met would care so much and get so involved in our situation," said Becca's mother, Mary Ann Solodon. "When I asked her why, she said, 'Well, if I could help, why wouldn't I?' That comment changed my life.
"If you have the power to help, why withhold it? It's easy to help those you love, but to reach out to a stranger, to open your heart to someone you've never met? If we can offer to any other family what (Ms. Simon) offered to us, we're in. We want to be a part of it."
And they are. Mary Ann Solodon sits on the foundation's board of directors, aiding fundraising efforts and offering the perspective of a parent who's been through it. Giving her time to the foundation and to other families in need is a no-brainer, she said, explaining that the way she sees the world has changed since her daughter's battle with cancer.
"You can't really take something that deep and pull it out of your life completely, because you're never the same on the other end," she said. "It changes you forever because you realize how precious life is. Everyday life is so, so precious. After Becca lost all her hair I thought, 'You know what? I'm never gonna have another bad hair day the rest of my life.' I'm just grateful I have hair to move from one side to the other."
Now sporting a full head of curly brown locks, Becca works part time at Ms. Simon's tiny Eastside office, where the two behave like sisters. They tease each other. They laugh a lot. They say the same things at the same time ("It was amazing!" they cry in unison about Becca's first recording session). Ms. Simon looks at Becca with pride in her eyes, almost as if she could cry -- until Becca says something to make her laugh instead.
Her days fighting cancer seem distant at times, Becca said, but she keeps them close to her heart in a way she never expected.
"After I was done with chemo, I didn't want to have anything to do with cancer," she said. "I just wanted it over. I wanted it to be gone. But now, to go visit these kids, to be here working, knowing that I'm helping -- it's one of the best things I do in my life."
e-mail: sleachman@newspress.com
The News-Press Holiday Fund was established in 1949 by former News-Press owner Thomas Storke, who was shocked at the cost of a wheelchair after he broke his leg. Since then, the fund has brought in more than $2 million in donations.
On Nov. 12, the News-Press Lifetime Achievement Award dinner kicked off the drive, which runs through New Year's. Four award winners were honored: Kate Firestone, Dr. Stephen Hosea, Paul Orfalea and Richard Welch. Also announced were this year's fund recipients: The Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation and Parks & Recreation Community Foundation (PARC).
All of the money raised goes to the charities. Throughout the drive, the News-Press periodically publishes the names of donors. Contributions may be mailed to: News-Press Holiday Fund, P.O. Box 1359, Santa Barbara 93102.
LEN WOOD / NEWS-PRESS PHOTO
Nikki Simon, left, executive director of the local Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, shares a hug with Becca Solodon. The 18-year-old cancer survivor is a volunteer and spokeswoman for the foundation.