Favors
Groom finds favor-ite way to say thanks to Dana-Farber
Steven Tashjian (R) and Amy Billett at the Tashjian October wedding in Boston
Wedding favors often wind up in the closet when guests return home, but Steven and Lindsay Tashjian made sure that what went on their tables served a much greater purpose: Helping the people who saved Steve's life do the same for other children and adults.
Instead of a little silver picture frame or box of candy-covered almonds, attendees at the Tashjian wedding reception on Oct. 7 found a card at their seats labeled "Love." Inside, it informed them that "A donation made in your honour has been made to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute."
For Steven, a Waltham native who was treated for Burkitt's leukemia at DFCI's Jimmy Fund Clinic and partnering Children's Hospital Boston when he was 5 and 6 years old, the gesture was a perfect opportunity to say thanks.
"We figured, 'Why spend all this money when we can just give the money instead to somebody who needs it?,'" says Tashjian, now 24 and living in Florida. "Hopefully this will help other kids grow up healthy."
DFCI's Amy Billett (left) poses with Steven and Lindsay Tashjian. Billett treated Steven Tashjian for leukemia at DFCI in 1987-88.
Dana-Farber pediatric oncologist Amy Billett, MD, was one guest who was especially moved by the gesture, inspired by Dana-Farber's "Special Occasion Favors" program. A first-year fellow when she treated Steven in 1987-88 using a then brand-new drug protocol developed at Dana-Farber, Billett has stayed in touch with the Tashjian family through holiday cards and regular checkups.
"You form intense relationships with kids and families, and they become very special to you," says Billett. "I have a whole cadre of 'my kids' I met during my fellowship with whom I remain connected. This is the first wedding of a patient I've attended, and it's wonderful."
Unfortunately, not all pediatric patients are able to reach such milestones. Money raised for DFCI and its Jimmy Fund through the Special Occasions Favors program goes toward continuing to raise recovery rates for cancers like Tashjian had. Burkitt's leukemia is particularly aggressive and fast growing, and Billett says many more patients with it died before successful protocols were developed here and elsewhere in the 1980s.
"Only about half of the kids survived then, but now it's closer to 80 percent," Billett says. "From what we can tell, we also think there are no measurable late effects from Steven's treatment."
Created in 1997, the Special Occasion Favors program provides 10 scrolls, table cards, or gift cards for a minimum gift of $30 to DFCI. Often purchased to honor or in memory of a patient, the favors can be personalized using an electronic template, and are used at hundreds of weddings/engagement parties, baby showers, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and other events each year.
"Dr. Billett has been a great inspiration to our son, and she and Dana-Farber are the reason he's still here," says Tashjian's father, Steven Sr. "It was very touching to have her at the wedding, and this was the perfect way for Steven and Lindsay to show their appreciation."
– Saul Wisnia
Saul_Wisnia@dfci.harvard.edu
For more information:
Contact: Favors Coordinator
Phone: (617) 632-6099
E-mail: JFFavors@dfci.harvard.edu
These cards, mentioning Steven and Lindsay's gift, were given to guests at the Tashjian wedding.
