{"id":27745,"date":"2021-12-21T15:53:21","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T15:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cmshub.wpengine.com\/?p=364312"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:14:06","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:14:06","slug":"girl-scouts-pink-chair-project-loans-recliners-to-women-recovering-from-mastectomies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/girl-scouts-pink-chair-project-loans-recliners-to-women-recovering-from-mastectomies\/","title":{"rendered":"Girl Scout\u2019s Pink Chair Project Loans Recliners to Women Recovering from Mastectomies"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Olivia Bratcher<\/a>\u2018s story starts when she was in fifth grade and joined the Girl Scouts. Little did she know, several years later, her Girl Scout Gold Award project would help cancer survivors like her mother and become something she expects to remain passionate about for years to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

Olivia\u2019s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. A friend offered her a recliner chair to use during her recovery from surgery.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s hard to stay comfortable. And if you do it incorrectly or put too much strain on your body, then you actually go backward, and you kind of have to restart your recovery,\u201d explains Olivia<\/a>, who watched her mom recover. \u201cSo it\u2019s very important for people to stay in their recliner chair and stay relaxed and basically on bed rest for a while.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: News Channel 5\/Claire Kopsky<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After she recovered, Olivia\u2019s mother gave the chair back to its original owner. However, when she underwent a second surgery for reconstruction, she asked if she could borrow it again. The owner had lent the chair to someone else, and so it was not available.<\/span><\/p>\n

17-year-old Olivia was searching for a sustainable idea to use as her Girl Scout Gold Award<\/a> project at the time. Watching her mother go through the ordeal with the reclining chair was what made her realize this was her opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: News Channel 5\/Claire Kopsky<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201c[The Gold Award] is a project that identifies an issue in your community and solves it with a sustainable solution,\u201d says Olivia. \u201cI knew that this was a need when my mom was going through this and thought, \u2018Oh, no, I have to get a recliner,\u2019 but recliners\u2014it\u2019s, I mean, it\u2019s a whole \u2018nother piece of furniture to buy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Olivia reached out to Williamson Medical Center Foundation<\/a> and immediately encountered support for her idea.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: Facebook\/Pink Chair Project<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOlivia reached out and we began conversations, and I knew immediately that this was something that we would absolutely want to support,\u201d recalls Williamson Medical Center Foundation Development Director and Gold Award Project Mentor. \u201cWhen I heard Olivia\u2019s desire to bless our patients in that way, I remember one of our physicians saying, \u2018What an incredible thing. And you can count on me for support.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After she had the foundation\u2019s support, Olivia reached out to local furniture stores to find someone to provide the chairs. She also needed to find a way to store, transport, and sanitize them for future use. Seth Hall<\/a>, the store owner of Head Springs Depot, was happy to help.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: News Channel 5\/Claire Kopsky<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cShe is a dynamic young lady and who obviously had a heart to help others who have a similar journey to her mother\/family. We have dispatched a couple of high-quality U.S. manufacturers to build the recliners to get the initial group of these available for local patients coming out of surgery at Williamson Medical,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Head Springs Depot bought all the chairs at cost and helped Olivia with her marketing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur marketing team has assembled a basic logo package and are designing\/sourcing all of her marketing signage. It\u2019s been neat to see the ladies on the marketing team rally around her as well,\u201d says Seth.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: Facebook\/Pink Chair Project<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Olivia has raised more than $5,000<\/a> so far. This is enough to purchase five recliner chairs for breast cancer patients. The recipients will be chosen by the Breast Health Navigators at Williamson Medical Center.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Pink Chair Project<\/a> was created to provide comfort and encouragement to breast cancer survivors by lending a recliner chair for use as they recover post-surgery,\u201d says Olivia. \u201cThe chairs represent a legacy of love and hope as they travel from home to home allowing women to heal physically and emotionally.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: News Channel 5\/Claire Kopsky<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the future, Olivia plans to partner with other hospitals and furniture stores to spread her project beyond Williamson County<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis project is more than just the Gold Award to me,\u201d says Olivia. \u201cYou\u2019re supposed to, at the end of your senior year, you have your project and it\u2019s checked off, basically. And you kind of walk away and your partners keep it going. And it\u2019s sustainable. But I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever be able to walk away from a project like this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo: Facebook\/Pink Chair Project<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Olivia\u2019s mom is now cancer-free. May this project be an example for hospitals and cancer centers in other locations across the country. It would be fantastic if no mastectomy patient ever had to go without a recliner to help them recover. You can help move Olivia\u2019s Pink Chair Project<\/a> forward by donating here.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Support those fighting Breast Cancer at The Breast Cancer Site<\/span> for free! \u2192<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n