MARYSVILLE — Carol Funkhouser is a survivor and has the scars to prove it.
Diagnosed in June 2005 with advanced squamous cell cancer, Funkhouser underwent a brutal regimen of treatment that was often more than she thought she could bear.
Three years later, Funkhouser is a volunteer at the Providence Research Center and the American Cancer Society and is a regular participant in the Relay for Life.
And then there are the dolls. The Dammit Dolls.
“This is how you use them,” Funkhouser said, whacking the plush doll against a tabletop.
The dolls are meant to be a source of stress relief and comfort during tough times, Funkhouser explained.
“I love the Dammit Dolls,” Tracy Anderson said. “I have one on my desk at work.”
Anderson, a fellow cancer survivor, has been working and volunteering alongside Funkhouser for more than a year and has been impressed with her passion to help others.
“Carol is just an awesome person. She knows how to help people find the right kind of information and resources that person needs,” Anderson said. “She is very quick to put aside her own struggles to help others.”
Funkhouser has been quick to give perfect strangers the dolls while she volunteers at the Providence Cancer Center. She remembers a mother and daughter who were talking animatedly about a big lunch they were going to go have before the daughter’s surgery.
“She was going to have a large part of her stomach removed and wouldn’t be able to eat solid food again for a while,” Funkhouser said. “So I walked up to her and her mom and gave them both a doll. It tickled them pink.”
Funkhouser also gives the dolls to anyone who makes a $10 charitable donation to her Relay for Life team, “Lilli’s Little Lappers.”
Their goal for this year is $10,000, with all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.
Right now, the team of volunteers is only $4,000 away from its goal. Funkhouser hopes the dolls save the day.
“We need to make 400 more dolls, with the hope that people will be motivated to donate to this great cause,” Funkhouser said.
Funkhouser is enthusiastic with her support for the American Cancer Society.
“They are the reason I volunteer,” she said. “I went into my surgery and treatment hardly knowing a thing about the resources available to cancer patients.”
One program that is available is Road to Recovery, a program in which volunteers drive patients to and from treatment.
These days, finding volunteer drivers is a problem, and many prospective volunteers are unaware that the gasoline they use is paid for by the program.
“We need to get people into treatment,” Funkhouser said. “We need people to get in there and get better.”
Those interested in the volunteer driving program can call 800-227-2345 for more information.
Funkhouser, along with Anderson and others from their Relay for Life team, will be selling Dammit Dolls and raising funds for Relay for Life from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Smokey Point Pontiac dealership.
The dealership will also donate a percentage of Saturday’s car sales to the American Cancer Society.
“This is our last big fundraiser for the year,” Funkhouser said. “We’re so close to a cure.”
Reporter Justin Arnold: 425-339-3432 or jarnold@heraldnet.com.
To learn more
For more information on the Relay for Life team “Lilli’s Little Lappers,” call 360-652-1144 or e-mail Carol Funkhouser at dammitdolls@msn.com.
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