By Toriano L. Porter – toriano.porter@examiner.net
The Examiner
Posted Apr 17, 2010 @ 12:48 AM
Last update Apr 17, 2010 @ 12:58 AM

Blue Springs, MO —

Forgive Blue Springs’ Chelsea Tilbury if she couldn’t quite explain exactly what happened on the last of her three goals against rival Blue Springs South.

With a spanking new gold trophy on the line in the first Cancer Battler Cup to benefit the Jennifer Ireland Foundation, Tilbury somehow managed to fight off a Jaguar defender and goalkeeper Kirstie Warren as they converged on Tilbury and the ball in front of the Jaguars’ goal and scored the game winning goal less than three minutes into overtime.

The goal – it will remain a mystery if it was a kick, a deflection or a header – gave the visiting Wildcats an improbable 3-2 win Friday over crosstown and Suburban Big Seven conference rival Blue Springs South in a soon-to-be annual game dedicated to Jennifer Bles Ireland, a 1997 graduate of Blue Springs who died of cancer.

Article in the North Kansas City Hospital weekly newsletter, Hospital Times, August 28, 2009.

Click Here to view the article online

Jennifer Ireland, 27, a wife and mother of two daughters passed away from a rare form of aggressive colon cancer on Feb. 4, 2007. At 3 am, in a tribute to Jennifer, the 5th floor staff lined the hallway as she was transported from her room. The cancer claimed her body, but her heart, soul and spirit still lives on.

Since April 2007, the Foundation has helped over 20 families with baskets. Monika is a member of the Foundation and helps prepare and deliver baskets. "It is all volunteers," says Monika. "We provide the baskets and supplies at our expense."

Anna and her mother were gratified when they received the basket. "This is absolutely perfect," says Anna. "You really don’t think about the things you want or need." Everything in the basket was something of value to Anna and her mother.

The Jennifer Ireland Foundation continues to support patients and families who are struggling through the difficulty of cancer treatments. "She lived her life as if she didn’t have cancer," says Jan. "There are miracles here on earth, and unless you have your eyes open, you miss them. She will never be forgotten."

The Foundation represents Jennifer’s spirit and loving heart. "Jennifer was a completely selfless person," says Monika. "She was very giving and the type of person who would give the shirt off her back to a person in need." Jennifer’s love and care represents the Foundation’s logo of a heart. "It is a symbol of love and it reminds people to give from their heart just as Jennifer did," says Jan. "She can’t be here to pay it forward and give back, so we do it for her."

To learn about the program, visit www.jenniferirelandfoundation.com to read Jennifer’s story, find information regarding the Foundation’s future events and how to donate or contribute to the baskets. Jan wants the Foundation to be the support for the patients and families just how the staff, family and friends were supportive to her.

Jennifer’s road after diagnosis was tough, but she didn’t let the cancer get in the way of living her life. She went out with her friends and spent a lot of time with her daughters. "She handled it with grace and dignity," says Jan. "She was always so full of hope and laughter.

Monika and the rest of the 5th floor staff helped with the process by giving Jan all the support, care and attention she would need. "I have never experienced such love and care before," says Jan. "The staff is so loving, caring and tender and I would really like to extend a thank you to NKCH, 5th floor staff, the patients on 5 and everyone who sits by their patients and loved ones." "We get very involved with our patients," says Monika. "It’s important to them and their families."

Fast forward to July 16, 2009, Jennifer’s mother, Jan Velander and MonikaTotoraitis, Pharm. D on the 5th floor of the Northland Cancer Center, are delivering a care basket to a patient, Anna Summa, on behalf of the Jennifer Ireland Foundation. Anna was diagnosed with breast cancer at 25 and recently with leukemia at 30.

The Foundation creates care baskets for patients and their families who are undergoing similar procedures as Jennifer’s. "Donations don’t go to cancer research, but instead directly to patients and their families," says Jan. "I am honored to be her mother and keep her memory alive."

A typical basket contains all the essential wants and needs for a family in the hospital. Snack food, notepads, granola bars and bottled water are a few of the popular items. Attached to the basket is a card with Jennifer’s picture and a note from Jan which says, "Please accept this basket from a mother who realizes the need to stay close to your loved ones when they are hospitalized."

Link to Article www.kansascity.com/317/story/1493362.html

By SU BACON
Special to The Star

When your world becomes a hospital room, a gift basket can be a lifeline.

“It was a small thing but it meant so much to me,” said Jan Velander, mother of a 27-year-old Blue Springs woman who died of colon cancer in 2007.

For the last three weeks of her daughter’s life, Velander said she never left her bedside at North Kansas City Hospital. During that time, a staff member gave Velander a gift basket filled with snacks and throughout the hospital stay, the basket was “magically refilled.”

Velander doesn’t know who was responsible for the steady supply of chips, cookies, bottled water, candy and other goodies that kept appearing in the basket but she is grateful for the kindness.

In memory of her daughter, Jennifer Ireland, Velander established a foundation to help others who have a diagnosis of cancer in their families. On the fifth floor of North Kansas City Hospital in the Northland Cancer Center, families are given gift baskets from the foundation.

“Like a kid at Christmas” is how Christi Collins, 41, Kansas City, North, described her husband’s reaction to the basket. Michael Collins, a Kansas City firefighter, receives chemotherapy treatments for four to five days every three weeks at the hospital.

Last week, the Collinses were presented the basket from Monika Totoraitis, a clinical oncology/hematology pharmacy specialist at the hospital and a member of the Jennifer Ireland Foundation.

Michael Collins, 40, eagerly removed the basket contents: a granola bar, mints, cookies, microwave popcorn, gum and other edibles as well as hand sanitizers, bottled water and a pen and notepad.

“It’s nice to have something to snack on,” he said. “It makes it more like home.”

Patients are reluctant to leave their rooms to get similar goodies at the hospital gift shop, cafeteria or vending machines because their immune systems have been weakened by cancer and by treatments. Family members don’t want to venture out for fear the patient may need them or the doctor may make a visit while they’re gone.

The foundation began giving the baskets this spring and so far, about 30 have been delivered at the hospital. The foundation maintains a stock of 15 to 20 baskets on the fifth floor.

“The baskets can be given by a nurse, housekeeper, chaplain — anyone who sees a family in need,” Totoraitis said.

The baskets are the newest form of assistance for families. When the foundation was established in April of 2007, its goal was to provide financial support directly to patients and their families. Since April of 2007, some 25 families nationwide have received grants of $500 to $1,000 to help buy groceries or pay medical expenses, utility bills, rent, mortgage and child care.

“It lessens the burden on families,” Totoraitis said.

Applications are available on the foundation Web site and are reviewed monthly by the board of directors. Assistance is given based on need and can be awarded quickly if the applicant has completed the required paperwork. There are no income guidelines.

There are no salaries to pay either. The foundation is an all-volunteer nonprofit. Donations and proceeds from fundraisers go directly to helping families of patients with cancer.