Yellow Brick Place Awareness Day will promote cancer center

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From left to right are Jack Savage of Liberty, Anna Aey of Canfield, Donna Detwiler of North Lima and Barb Kosensky of Youngstown, who are working toward establishing Yellow Brick Place, where cancer patients can find hope, support and education. An Awareness Day for the proposed center will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. July 15 at Austintown Township Park.

AUSTINTOWN

Founders of a new nonprofit organization will announce their plans for Yellow Brick Place, a future cancer resource and wellness center for Mahoning Valley residents, at Awareness Day from 1 to 4 p.m. July 15 at Stacey Pavilion in Austintown Township Park.

The organizers plan to provide hope, education and support for cancer patients.

Donna Detwiler of North Lima, a cancer survivor, says that YBP will be dedicated to providing cancer patients and their caregivers resources of the mind, body and spirit free of charge by helping them with their needs outside the hospital room.

She is a registered nurse who has treated cancer patients in the Mahoning Valley.

She wants to continue her mission to provide resources and wellness information to cancer patients. The motto of YBP is “There’s No Place Like Hope.”

Detwiler has been at the bedside of hundreds of cancer patients and watched survivors come back to her and share their stories of life and love.

She worked with cancer patients 20 years at the former Tod Children’s Hospital and Northside Medical Center. In her 10th year of fighting a rare blood cancer called multiple myeloma, Detwiler has never abandoned her Relay for Life Team nor has she given up hope to dream about the cancer resource and wellness center.

Jack Savage of Liberty also wants to create a place where cancer patients and their caregivers can find information.

His wife, Christina, battled brain cancer for 10 years before she died in 2009. He said that toward the end, they learned about many resources that were available to help. Before that, they had no idea how much help was out there.

Savage, with the help of his brother-in-law, who designs websites, created www.managecancer.org, which has earned national attention. He also runs the operations of Christina’s Garden, a nonprofit group. Through his operations he helps people across the country.

After Christina died, Savage discovered the Gathering Place of Cleveland. It sponsors patient wellness sessions, support groups, a library and a garden. Delivering the same resources to the Youngstown area has become his long-term goal.

Savage said that the peace and comfort that the wellness centers offer is what he wants Yellow Brick Place and Christina’s Garden to offer.

Savage, Detwiler and Anna Aey are working together to bring YBP into the forefront as a community resource.

Aey, also a cancer survivor, said she hopes everyone who has been touched by cancer will attend Awareness Day. The event will feature free activities for children and families, refreshments and entertainment, while providing information about the group’s plans for the local wellness center.

Aey, of Canfield, triumphed over her cancer through the support of her friends and family, especially her four daughters.

Detwiler is the initiator and facilitator of the Youngstown Multiple Myeloma Support Group and the Survivor of the Year of the Amercian Cancer Society. She suffered a relapse when her cancer returned in 2011. Once again, she, her husband, Jerry, four children and five grandchildren and mother, Carmel, fight for her again. Detwiler’s attitude is “You can’t give up.”