Roosevelt staff, students plant daffodils to raise cancer awareness

More than 100 daffodils were purchased and planted in Roosevelt University's new Garden of Hope.

Colleges Against Cancer and Roosevelt University Green co-hosted a fundraiser, Daffodil Days, which led to the planting event in the courtyard of the Schaumburg campus.

The daffodils were purchased for the garden planting, which took place on Earth Day, April 22.

The event, planned by Rita Svendsen, president of Colleges Against Cancer for the Schaumburg campus, and John Damascus, president of RU Green, was also sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

Students and faculty purchased daffodils for $3 each throughout the spring semester and collected more than $248 for Relay For Life, which raises awareness and funds for cancer research.

"Everybody is touched by cancer," Svendsen said. "You don't have to be a science student to understand that."

As the first flower of spring, the daffodil is a symbol of hope for the American Cancer Society. It represents the hope people share for a future where cancer is no longer a life-threatening disease.

The small courtyard that is surrounded by the science laboratories is now filled with daffodil bulbs and tulips after students and faculty spent hours in its soil.

Breast cancer survivor Chrissy Saffram was 26 years old when she was diagnosed, but it was not her first experience with the disease. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when Saffram was just 3 years old and then died seven years later.

Saffram soon began volunteering with the American Cancer Society when she was 11.

"I feel that awareness needs to be made a lot sooner in life," Saffram said. "You don't always necessarily have to raise the money, it's just spreading the word,"

As a runner, Saffram participates in marathons and half marathons all over the United States as well as in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk every October to raise awareness and funds for cancer research.

Saffram has seen the same doctors that her mother had used for her cancer treatment.

"They learned that much more within the 15 years of my diagnosis and that's my future," Saffram said, gesturing to her young daughter. "So they need a cure before she's old enough to worry."

RU Green's next project in the area includes restoring the pond that once had a place in the garden, creating an aquaponics system.

"It's going to basically have fish in here, probably koi or something like that," Damascus said.

"Then the nitrogenous waste that fish give off is going to be used to feed the plants so it creates a cycle, a small ecosystem."