When English Professor Jean Carwile Masteller was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year, she witnessed firsthand the overwhelming quantity of financial, medical and educational resources needed to combat the disease. Now, by pioneering creative fundraising projects, a number of students are joining their professor in an effort to help make these resources available for everyone.

This past October, which was coincidentally Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Carwile Masteller sent an e-mail to students and faculty members in her department inviting them to help finance cancer treatments and accommodations for people in the community who may not be able to afford them.

“I invite (even challenge) you to join me this month in a community service project,” said Carwile Masteller in her e-mail.  “I’m fortunate. I have a job, insurance, and good friends around me who offer lots of support.   Others in our larger community are not so lucky.   Even some with jobs don’t have sufficient insurance or don’t have the means to cover the costs of treatments.”

Participants’ community service projects will support two funds at the Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Downtown Walla Walla. The Lifesaver Fund finances mammograms for women who cannot otherwise pay for the lifesaving procedure. The St. Mary Regional Cancer Center’s Special Needs Fund provides a variety of services to patients in need, including assistance in paying for treatments, gas, accommodations, and other resources.

“All of the funds will help those in our own community and region served by the Cancer Center and the Breast Center,” said Carwile Masteller. “The recipients of the Special Needs Funds are not just breast cancer patients, but any cancer patient at the Cancer Center who has special needs.”

In typical Whitman style, Carwile Masteller’s mind never drifted far from coursework as she sought to initiate the community service project. “I can tie all this to literature by reminding those of you who have studied Ben Franklin’s Autobiography that the young Ben Franklin joined with his friends to form a junto to foster community improvements.   Then each member of the junto went out and formed another junto with other friends to promote improvements, and on and on.”

As a member of Franklin’s junto would have done, senior English major Valerie Lopez resolved to participate in Carwile Masteller’s challenge as soon as it was announced. For her fundraising project, Lopez decided to work as a representative for a branch of Avon Cosmetics, selling products from the company’s youth makeup line. She receives a 40 percent commission on every sale, which she donates directly to the
Special Needs Funds at St. Mary Regional Cancer Center in downtown Walla Walla. Lopez only started selling last week, and hopes to continue to do so in the future; she made over $300 on her first sale alone.

“I was actually in high school when I encountered this specific idea of products for a branch company,” said Lopez. “Buying makeup doesn’t have to be a guilty pleasure at all because you’re contributing to something that is worthwhile and also fun for yourself. This project is something I’ve never done before. It’s stressful and time-consuming, but it’s definitely a self-affirming project to do. I’m happy that I’ve done it.”

In collaboration with Studio Art Professor Mare Blocker, senior Mary-Eileen Gallagher is hosting “The Holiday Pink Boutique,” an arts-and-crafts fair that will raise funds for St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center’s Lifesaver Breast Cancer Screening Fund and the Cancer Special Needs Fund. The sale will begin Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. in the Breezeway gallery in Olin Hall, and will launch in conjunction with the reception of Sheenhan Gallery’s

“Juried Student Art Exhibition.” Lasting from Dec. 6-19th, the sale will feature arts and crafts created and donated by students, faculty, staff and community members.

Carwile Masteller hopes that Lopez’s and Gallagher’s projects will inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

“I’m hoping that other events in the works will occur in the spring as students, not just in the English department, continue to develop projects,” she said. “As I fight my own battle with breast cancer, it means a lot to me to be able to help others in their fight.   I’m touched that students are joining me in the fight.”