Local Non-Profit Asks Professionals to Donate One Year for Cancer Cure

When 26-year old Ellie Mroz was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma two years ago, she left her job as a Spanish teacher at Westfield High School to undergo chemotherapy.

A few months into her treatment, fate found her a new career.

Last July, she helped launch One Year for Cancer, a Westfield based non-profit which places “passionate people who want to work somewhere within the cancer community.”  

 A chance meeting led Mroz to the man behind a big idea, Westfield resident Greg Redington.  A professional engineer by trade and owner of REDCO Engineering and Construction Corporation, Redington felt “helpless” after his sister-in-law was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma eleven years ago.

“It affected everyone in my family like a sledgehammer,” he said. “That was my first touching point with cancer.”

He wanted to help but didn’t know how.

He said clarity came years later when he read a New York Times article about death rates and potential cures for cancer. “My immediate reaction was if it’s going to take 20 years, why won’t we double our efforts and cure it in 10,” he said. “To me, math is logical and things are supposed to work that way.”

That same day, he read an article about the European Particle Accelerator and how many “hundreds of billions of dollars” were being invested in that research. Together, the two articles spurred the idea. “I said what the hell are we all doing …I got myself all wound up.”

Redington said he wanted to approach the cancer community with a “fresh pair of eyes” and he began to think outside the box. “The cancer industry is such a huge enterprise that it encompasses every type of profession that exists, everything from the most technical lab doctor or assistants …to architects and engineers who build and design the facilities.” 

His idea was to “double the rate” of people helping the cause, not by pulling them permanently out of their positions, but by giving them a goal. “The concept is to have everyone spend a year over their lifetime, 2000 hours, curing cancer.”

But Redington said he’s thinking on an even bigger scale. “Let’s make it part of being an American to spend a year of their life working for some altruistic cause,” he said. “Could you imagine how many more resources it would put towards these causes …how much more involved people would get?”

“Wouldn’t it be great if the common denominator we all had a generation from now is where did you spend ‘your year’?” He added, “There’s no downside to this, and the upside is just tremendous,” he said. “The concept is to have people recognize that they can do this.”

And while the concept came to him several years ago, Redington didn’t fully implement it until he met Mroz last year.

When they met through Mroz’s husband, Mike, Redington had no idea she was undergoing treatment for the same type of cancer his sister-in-law had. They initially spoke about her working for REDCO.  

“He didn’t know I was sick at the time,” said Mroz. “A week later …he said he had an epiphany and he wanted to talk to me.” Redington told her about his idea. 

When Mroz then told him she was in the middle of chemotherapy treatments, it was a perfect fit. He offered her the opportunity to help jumpstart his cause. And now she is the vice president of operations for OYFC.

Mroz matches people “with fulltime, part time and volunteer positions in the cancer community.”.

OYFC, which recently received a $3000 grant from the Westfield Foundation, is currently fundraising to develop a website Mroz likened to electronic jobsites like Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com.

The site will allow candidates to create online profiles and match with positions electronically. Working hours can also be logged. “Right now I have an Excel spreadsheet with people and skills listed,” said Mroz. “I do all of the matching by word of mouth and making phone calls.”

She said she also posts job descriptions on their current website and matches are made that way.

So far the majority of placements have been volunteers. “That’s where most of our successes have been.” At Westfield FestiFall alone, OYFC recruited more than 50 volunteers. Mroz said about 100 people so far have “committed to start their one year.”

Mroz places positions with several national organizations, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the American Cancer Society, Gilda’s Club and the Wellness Community. “It’s easy, once I do the one-on-one meeting to transfer (our services) to that organization anywhere in the country,” she said. “That’s why it lends itself to national outreach.”

She also works with local organizations, such as the Emmanuel Cancer Foundation in Scotch Plains, a group dedicated to helping the families of children diagnosed with cancer. “I work with them to think outside the box to help meet their goals to make their mission possible.”

If the organizations need skilled professionals, such as a graphic artist, lawyer or accountant, Mroz uses her data base to help find them.

Mroz said she also helps groups of volunteers, like youth ministries, find outreach service projects. “A lot of times these groups have a difficult time finding (volunteer) opportunities,” she said, adding that many charity organizations require a lot of extra time and training that groups can’t provide. “We’re by-stepping all of that and finding specific projects they can work on.”

Mroz said the next goal of OYFC is to get into more of the “paying arenas,” like hospitals and research teams, along with the non-profits.

Personally, Mroz said she’s taken a lot away from her experience thanks to her family.

Her mother, Terri Feldman Hodara, was also diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma eight years to the day before her daughter’s diagnosis. And while Hodara is in remission, Mroz said her mom’s experience was “typical, but somber.”  Hodara wanted to make her daughter’s experience different.

So Hodara threw her daughter “Chemo Themo Parties” in honor of each of her treatments, every other Monday for six months. They were surprise theme parties which included the “Chemo Teamo” (her parents, her in-laws and her husband) and always a surprise guest. The parties were complete with decorations, food and a theme. One party was even black-tie.

“The thing we took away from the experience is celebration,” said Mroz. “Every little thing is a celebration.”

And while leaving her position as a Spanish teacher at WHS was a difficult decision, Mroz said she's "even more passionate" about OYFC.

“I can help people,” said Mroz, who also does public relations and marketing for Redco. “It feels good.”

Redington agrees the concept of helping others is contagious. “If you could take 10 minutes and save someone’s life, would you do it? I think most people would say yes.”

So how about a few more. “If something was a little less committal …and there was a lot more choice involved …I bet people would jump at the opportunity.”

For information on OYFC, or employment/volunteer opportunities within the cancer community, go to www.oyfc.org.