Kids dealing with relative's cancer get stress-free event today

CANFIELD

Before Max Toker came to the Yellow Brick Place’s kids event today, he wanted to make sure of one thing: that no counselors were going to be there.

Carol Apinis, president of the cancer support organization’s board and co-chair of the “Day of Adventure on the Yellow Brick Trail” event, was happy to reassure him that they would not be.

For one day, 31 kids whose lives have been affected by a loved one’s cancer diagnosis led a day free from cancer.

“There’s a place for counseling, and there’s a place for having fun. They need both of them. And today is about having fun,” said Apinis.

Opportunities for fun were plentiful. The event at the Mill Creek MetroParks Farm featured activities from the Butler Institute of American Art, the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County, the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science & Technology, Rose Melnick Medical Museum, and SMARTS (Students Motivated by the Arts). Later in the day, the group took a tour of the farm and visited farm animals.

The aim of the inaugural event, Apinis said, was to give kids a break from the stress that comes with a family member’s battle with cancer.

Read more about the event in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.