YORK VILLAGE - Imagine 1,000 pink tulips blooming around the monument in the center of the village, each one honoring breast cancer survivors and memorializing loved ones lost to the disease.
This is just the vision that has prompted local resident Dwyer Leahy Vessey to sponsor the York Community Pink Tulip Garden as part of the statewide Pink Tulip Project to benefit the Maine Cancer Foundation.
From the loss of one of her dearest friends to cancer about 13 years ago to witnessing members of her husband's family battle the disease, Vessey was compelled to do something in support of those fighting the disease. When she learned about the Pink Tulip Project, which has a goal of planting 30,000 pink tulip bulbs in communities around the state as a symbol of hope and renewal for breast cancer patients and their families, Vessey said she wanted to be a part of the effort.
"This is York. People are generous and it's a simple thing to set aside the $10 or $20 that you would have given for Christmas cards or lattes for this," she explained, using the example of one local donor decided to purchase bulbs for the garden in lieu of a Christmas gift to show her support for cancer patients. "I just felt like this was something I could do."
At the price of just $1 per bulb, all proceeds support the Maine Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding research - and finding hope - for Maine residents fighting cancer. And Vessey's local effort has won the support of many residents, including Faith Webster and the Old York Garden Club. The Garden Club has agreed to plant the bulbs on Nov. 6 at 1 p.m., and volunteers are welcome to join in the effort.
If Vessey's goal to plant 1,000 tulips in the York garden is realized, that will mean $1,000 for the Pink Tulip Project. However, she pointed out, donations need not be large, as any amount will be accepted toward the effort. For those who are interested in making donations after the planting date, Vessey said information will be available on the website to do that.
"It just seems like such a great thing to look out and see this garden," Vessey said of the York Community Pink Tulip Garden.
Vessey has also reserved some bulbs to plant in her own yard as a reminder of her loved ones who have battled the disease, and that is an option for those who wish to donate to the effort as well.
The statewide project began back in 2004 when Robin Whitten, a breast cancer survivor from the Portland area, decided to build on the vision of hope she found during her own treatment through the tulips she had planted and were awaiting the spring when they could grow and bloom.
That image is one that Vessey holds dear.
"These bulbs lie dormant every year and then they come back," she said, likening that process to what each person facing cancer goes through as they face treatment. "I see each of those tulips as women's faces that have survived."
There is still time to purchase bulbs to add to the York Community Pink Tulip Garden and help reach the goal of planting 1,000 bulbs this month. A simple form is available through the website, www.pinktulipproject.org, or may be obtained by contacting Vessey at dvessey@maine.rr.com or (603) 205-8995.
All funds raised through the Pink Tulip Project remain in the state of Maine. For more about the Maine Cancer Foundation, visit www.mainecancer.org.
