Room 4 Love was established in January 2012. Our organization began with a passion and a dinner conversation with my family. My daughters' Maggie and Bella, along with my husband, Gordon and I all decided that we wanted to do more than the volunteer services we were currently doing with a local organization called Friends of Karen in Port Jefferson. (This organization helps children with cancer and their families in many ways). Maggie and Bella had an idea - bedroom makeovers! The name "Room 4 Love" came out of that same conversation that evening, and Maggie and Bella typed up forms that night that are still used today which help us fill out exactly what the families needs are. Then with a couple of conversations back and forth with Friends of Karen, they so graciously allowed us to do a bedroom makeover. Their social worker had a child that they felt was in need, and they had us meet the family and begin our makeover. When we met, we took pictures and measurements of the room and found out all the needs the child and family had for their bedroom. We set a mutual date between Room 4 Love and the family where Room 4 Love could come in and begin the makeover. From beginning to completion of the bedroom was exactly one week. For this particular bedroom, we pulled out carpet, refinished wood floors, painted, upholstered a club chair, purchased new bedding and accessories, as well as a new couch because her brother slept next to her during her the nights she came home from having chemo. Maggie and Bella cleaned out the bedroom and worked on projects as well as picked out new bedding and accessories, and helped decorate for completion. Room 4 Love's team on this first bedroom was our family of four, grandma, a close friend, and a wood flooring company. Our second site we had a couple of more family and friends and a painting company. By our third site, we became the full bloom team we are today, 30 bedrooms later, with the finest team that any group could ask for. Everyone works very hard behind the scenes to make a bedroom makeover possible. Anywhere from purchasing furniture and accessories, working on specific projects for the bedroom, brainstorming ideas, fundraising, and running errands that are so desperately needed. When we are on site working we move furniture, put up molding, finish floors, sometimes finish closets, paint, clean and bring all new accessories and furniture in the bedroom to decorate. Everything we do is with the child's specific needs and wants in mind. When we see their excitement and happiness, we know that we have done the job that we set out to do. Room 4 Love also does the sibling's bedrooms, as they too suffer and are affected by the dynamics and hardships of a diagnosis. We are so thankful for every team member, and to our great community who back us. Without everyone, the bedroom makeovers could not take place. We will soon be starting our 35th bedroom and feel very blessed that we are allowed to enter homes to complete makeovers. Room 4 Love is thankful to Friends of Karen for our working relationship and for being one of the main organizations that help connect us to the families we work with.
A little bit about our family's passion; many years ago, my sister, Lisa, passed away from Leukemia. I will never forget the sadness that came with her diagnosis. Nothing seemed the same, and nothing else seemed important. It has been a lifelong struggle for me to know such sadness and a passion to do anything to help those in need. I have had the good fortune that my husband has always been a part of this passion. My children, Maggie and Bella, grew up knowing everything about their Aunt Lisa and hold a special place in their hearts for those suffering with cancer. We know that there is nothing more important than a child and their well-being; how it's impossible to run your life as you knew it before a diagnosis; and how unbelievably emotional it is for the parents, the child, and the siblings. We want that when a sick child comes home, they have a place that makes them smile, a place that represents them, and a place to call their own. I thank my children for not only founding this grass roots organization but for their continued dedication on each makeover; my husband for his undying support; and our family and friends who have partnered with us as a united team onsite (& offsite) to make this vision a reality. We are eternally grateful to everyone that makes this organization possible.
With hope and love,
Lucy
A little bit about our family's passion; many years ago, my sister, Lisa, passed away from Leukemia. I will never forget the sadness that came with her diagnosis. Nothing seemed the same, and nothing else seemed important. It has been a lifelong struggle for me to know such sadness and a passion to do anything to help those in need. I have had the good fortune that my husband has always been a part of this passion. My children, Maggie and Bella, grew up knowing everything about their Aunt Lisa and hold a special place in their hearts for those suffering with cancer. We know that there is nothing more important than a child and their well-being; how it's impossible to run your life as you knew it before a diagnosis; and how unbelievably emotional it is for the parents, the child, and the siblings. We want that when a sick child comes home, they have a place that makes them smile, a place that represents them, and a place to call their own. I thank my children for not only founding this grass roots organization but for their continued dedication on each makeover; my husband for his undying support; and our family and friends who have partnered with us as a united team onsite (& offsite) to make this vision a reality. We are eternally grateful to everyone that makes this organization possible.
With hope and love,
Lucy