One Dream helps senior battling cancer
The Chicago nonprofit One Dream made a dream come true for Delores Palmore of Oak Park Sunday, Jan. 3, by throwing her a party to say thank you to her cancer support network, friends, family and doctors.
The Dream Team, teacher Michelle Fonsino and 14 of her sophomore class board students from Prospect High School in Mount Prospect, arrived at Mills Park Tower in Oak Park at noon to set up in the community room.
Decorations, homemade banners, a photo booth area, a microphone stand for speeches, live music, giveaways for guests and all the catered food and dessert was set up and ready for Palmore and her guests when they walked in at 2 p.m.
Palmore had a wonderful time. She laughed, cried and danced with her loved ones. Our Dream's favorite gift to Delores was a scrapbook that was worked on throughout the event.
Students collected heartfelt guest notes and photos with a Polaroid camera as they walked in and were able to share the finished product with Delores by the end of the party. All volunteers wore black with blue ribbons for colon cancer with Palmore's initials written on them for extra support.
The Dream Team gave students "dreamcatcher" keychains as gifts to say thank you so they could always look back at them and remember they helped catch a dream.
Palmore has lived in Oak Park 40 years. She's active in her church and spends her free time making ribbons for cancer patients and calling bingo. She was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2005, and has undergone multiple rounds of chemo and radiation, but the cancer has since spread further.
She has seen many different doctors, been through surgeries and no longer has all the organs she used to have.
When One Dream asked Palmore if she could think of her proudest accomplishment, she said, "Being a fighter. Not letting the cancer define who I am, and not just sitting around. When I felt bad, I would still go to church or volunteer at the economy shop in Oak Park."
Palmore says she could never have survived her cancer this long without the support of her family, friends, and doctors. She shared this in her emotional speech. Her One Dream was to have a nice meal with them to say "thank you" for being her support system.
Her selfless dream moved One Dream, and they are excited to have made it happen. One Dream shared Delores's story on its crowdfunding website, oneseniordream.org, and the community came together to make her dream come true. One Dream raised funds for invitations, food and drinks, a musician, decorations and more.
"So many selfless people came together to make this happen," said Melissa Cosentino, founder and executive director of One Dream. "As an organization, a big part of our vision is to inspire a younger generation to respect and support older adults. So, for Palmore's dream, we enlisted the help of the sophomore class board at Prospect High School and they got to work planning her thank you party.
"To see them taking action to create such a joy for this incredible, deserving woman was indescribably inspirational. Delores said she couldn't have imagined it any better and was so thankful to make her dream a reality."
One Dream helps make dreams come true for low income Chicago area senior citizens. Senior poverty is a serious problem. According to a 2013 study by the Economic Policy Institute, 48 percent of America's seniors have incomes that are less than two times the supplemental poverty line; meaning almost half of American seniors can barely make ends meet, let alone explore new experiences or live life to the fullest.
One Dream is sharing the stories and dreams of these incredible seniors, and raising money through online crowdfunding to make their dreams come true.
For informatioin, visit One Dream at https://oneseniordream.org.
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