Favors
Favors program offers unique party favors and support for the fight against cancer
Wedding and party planners are always looking for thoughtful and unique ways to celebrate that special occasion. Some of them have discovered that a generous gift to support the fight against cancer is the perfect solution.
Since 1997, Dana-Farber's Favors program has provided party favors for weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, birthdays, anniversaries, and a variety of other special occasions. For a gift of $30 per package of ten, the program provides scrolls, tablecards , or gift cards for the event. All three notify guests that a contribution has been made in their honor to support the Jimmy Fund at DFCI.
Priya McCue, a Dana-Farber employee who was married in October 1998, selected Favor scrolls as a way to thank guests for sharing the special day with her and to honor her new husband, Bill, and his family.
"Fortunately, my family has almost no history of cancer," says McCue. "But it hit my husband's family hard — he lost his grandmother and two uncles to the disease — so I wanted to let his family know they were an important part of our wedding day and that we were thinking of the loved ones they had lost."
McCue, who personalized the scrolls with hand-tied ribbons and crocheted butterflies, says many of her 180 guests were deeply moved by the gesture, and several even decided to offer Favors at their own weddings.
"We received the most incredible response," she recalls. "Many of our guests said they were the best favors they had ever seen."
According to Stephanie Fox, who runs the program for the Development Department, nearly 200 people sign up for the table cards and scrolls each year, mostly for weddings but also for bar/bat mitzvahs and holiday parties.
"Many people use the table cards for dinners at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah," she says. "It's a great way to remember friends and relatives at the holidays."
McCue, who has worked at Dana-Farber since 1997, said she was glad she found out about the Favors program in time for her wedding.
"If I hadn't, we would have been one of millions of couples struggling to think of something more creative than Jordan almonds and little silver picture frames," she says. "Everyone's been touched by cancer, and this is a meaningful way to recognize that on one of the most important days of your life."
