It may be hard to feel beautiful when you’re pale and your hair has fallen out, but one organization knows how to change that. For the past 25 years, Friends of Kids with Cancer has given children undergoing cancer treatment an opportunity to feel like a million dollars with its annual fashion show and boutique at The Ritz-Carlton. This year, the show will star 30 young patients from Mercy, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. In special recognition of its 25th anniversary, it also will feature a model from each of the past 25 shows.
“It’s an extraordinary event,” says Judy Ciapciak, the nonprofit’s executive director. “Not only do the patients feel beautiful, but also the red carpet treatment they receive on that special day really kicks their cancer to the curb.” Ciapciak says children are referred for the show by doctors and nurses at the treatment centers. “It’s about giving each child a memory that will last a lifetime,” she says.
But it’s also about the entire family. “Cancer causes havoc on the whole unit,” Ciapciak explains. “This is a chance for everyone to be treated to something very special.” To that end, each family is given two tickets to both the lunchtime and evening shows, and the whole family stays at The Ritz overnight.
It’s this attentiveness to emotional well-being that is one of the hallmarks of Friends of Kids with Cancer, an organization with educational, recreational and emotional programs that fill in gaps not addressed by medical treatment. Ciapciak says the idea for the nonprofit was conceived by two moms who had sick children, Molly Henry and Susie Snowden, developmental specialist Jill Turec, and Dr. Bob Bergamini, a pediatric oncologist.
The nonprofit’s first fundraiser was a fashion show, but Ciapciak says it was a far smaller event than it is today, with close to 1,000 attendees expected. The show’s success over the years speaks to the growth of the nonprofit in general. “What began as a fun diversion has expanded into providing support in such vital areas as mental well-being and education to address the whole child,” Bergamini says. The educational component provides tutoring, testing and scholarships for survivors and patients, while the emotional program uses art and play therapies, as well as psychological services, to address the children’s feelings and empower them.
This year, the fashion show takes place Nov. 9, and Ciapciak says it promises to be extraordinary. One of the 25 models from past years will be survivor Ashley Snowden Twellman, daughter of co-founder Susie Snowden, who participated in the very first fashion show in 1993. “It’s so moving to see the courage of these children as they walk down the runway,” Ciapciak says, “and to see the parents watching their kids, so proud and so happy.”
Friends of Kids with Cancer hosts its 25th anniversary fashion show and boutique Nov. 9 at the Ritz-Carlton. The nonprofit is devoted to enriching the lives of children undergoing treatment and survivors of cancer and blood-related diseases through educational, emotional, and recreational support. Pictured on the cover, seated: Auggie Powers, co-founder Dr. Bob Bergamini, Thomas Lorenz, Joseph Renick. Standing: Ashley Snowden Twellman, Taliyah Young, fashion show chair Abbel Small, executive director Judy Ciapciak. For more information, call 314.275.7440 or visit friendsofkidswithcancer.org.
Cover design | Julie Streiler
Cover photo | Tim Parker Photography
