Patients receiving cancer care at Tidelands Health have a stylish new way to find comfort and confidence thanks to a generous donation by a local Vera Bradley store.
The retailer donated 92 of the popular brand’s colorful scarves to the Tidelands Health Cancer Care Network to encourage patients and give them a fashionable accessory in case they are experiencing hair loss during treatment.
“I just hope it makes them smile and that they know someone was thinking of them,” says April Fennell, assistant store manager of Vera Bradley at Tanger Outlets Myrtle Beach.
Called to help
Fennell and other store employees have lost loved ones to cancer and wanted to lift the spirits of those battling the disease through the community outreach effort. As a young girl, Fennell watched as her grandmother battled cancer, rarely leaving her house.
“If she had a nice Vera Bradley scarf, maybe she would have gone out,” Fennell says.
Fennell and her team at Vera Bradley selected Tidelands Health Cancer Care Network, the region’s most comprehensive provider of cancer and MUSC Health affiliate, to benefit from this special program.
During a three-day period in March, customers at the store in the Tanger center off U.S. 17 could buy and donate a scarf in exchange for a 10 percent discount. Each scarf is valued at between $13 and $18. The goal was to collect 60 scarves, but the effort exceeded expectations.
“We have a great community,” Fennell says. “Everybody is so generous. I felt like Santa Claus carrying the bag to the cancer center.”
Advanced care
The Tidelands Health Cancer Care Network is a triple-accredited cancer care provider and the region’s affiliate of the MUSC Health Hollings Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute designated cancer center.
“Our patients are already putting these beautiful scarves to good use,” says Dr. Jeffrey Cronk, medical director of oncology at Tidelands Health. “Kind gestures like this one from the thoughtful team at Vera Bradley mean so much to our patients and really lift their spirits.”
