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Day of Adventure gives kids a day free from cancer stress
CANFIELD
Before Max Toker came to the Yellow Brick Place’s kids event Tuesday, 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.
“Going through cancer, we as adults know how sometimes you just want to be away from it,” she said. “If we as adults feel that way, we know the children feel that way.”
For Max and his younger sister, Mazzy, that meant a reprieve from dealing with the loss of their mother, who died in December 2015 after being diagnosed with lung cancer just a few months before.
Mazzy, 8, was particularly excited about the visit from the Butler.
“I like art,” she explained.
Yellow Brick Place, which opened in 2015, is a cancer wellness center located on Canfield Road. The group provides free nonmedical support to cancer patients and their families.
The organization is operated almost entirely by volunteers, many of whom are cancer survivors such as Apinis.
“When people walk through our doors, they come through confused and scared,” said Apinis. “When they’re able to talk to people who know what they’re going through, it makes a whole lot of difference.”
For more information about the organization, call 234-228-9550 or visit yellowbrickplace.org.