February 6, 2025 • 30 mins
Hair Peace Charities Helps women and girls, who live in western Pennsylvania with financial assistance to purchase a wig needed due to cancer. Hair Peace also offers cancer-fighting information, encouragement, and faith with support groups. Hair Peace Charities will provide up to $250 towards a purchase of a wig.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
And welcome in. This is a public affairs program shedding
the light on the interest, issues and concerns of the
greater Pittsburgh Aaria. Good morning. My name is Johnny Hartwell,
your host and in studio an old friend of ours,
Bonnie Diver from Hair Peace Charities. Good morning, Bonnie. How
are you hi?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm great. Thank you for having me in here.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Well, you're in the studio and I have a feeling
that might be because Marty Graffer Hope is just around
the corner. So tell us everything we need to know
about your little shindig.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, special event coming up. It's on March the first.
We're going to have Marty Groffer Hope. We've been doing
this for a few years. It was sort of one
of those things that came out of COVID and with
some other events that we had to change around for times,
and they said, well, let's do something in the spring,
and Marty gral came up. Hotel Indigo is where we
do that. And they've been very generous with us because
(00:52):
we helped some of their employees when they were going
through cancer. So they wanted to give back and they said,
if you want to do something here, we'd be happy
to hope.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I didn't know that because I know it's a great
little area. Yeah, it's perfect for this event. Yeah, that's
a nice little connection. I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, now now you know.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
So hotel in Ago. If you don't know where that is,
it's sort of in Oakland. It's just a couple of the.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Technology Drive right off the Parkway East. Yeah, Technic down
by the Hot Metal Bridge, because there's two of them,
so you got to make sure Technology Drive. Okay, So
that's where we are, and it's on March first, they are,
so it's such a fun place to be. Of course,
we have live music. John Grush is going to bring
his New Orleans band back again, so that'll be happening.
We've got lots of great food that's going to be
(01:36):
all New Orleans up. You know, like Chef Nick from
Renaissance Hotel is going to do some gumbo. The Oaster
is going to do something with shrimp and whatever else,
probably garlic, I'm sure we've got. Oh, Scott Baker from
Jenny Lee Bakery is going to be there doing like,
I don't know, grilled cheese or something.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Whatever he makes, it's always fantastic.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
So it's so good. Yeah. And we've got our desserts
coming from Billie Joe Marshall. She's got her cookies coming nothing.
Butt cakes are going to be there. Oh, I can't
leave out Lori Geiger. She's going to bring meatballs.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Oh okay, she always does though she loves her meatballs. Well,
we love her meatball so it goes together. Yep. And
do you have a special bartender.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
We do. We have a celebrity bartender back by popular demand,
Johnny Hartwell, hey that's you.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Hey, that's me. So yeah, the whole event is happening
on March first. To get more information, you can go
to the website, which is Hairpiece Peace dot org and
you get more information and it benefits Hairpiece Charity. So
let's get into that, you know, tell us everything about
the organization.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Sure, hair Peace started. I can't believe it's been so
many years. I lost ty year.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
You say that after twenty.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I went what hot? You know, It's like I don't
even remember how old I am, you know, But two
thousand and three I had breast cancer and I went
through the whole process of everything I needed to do.
My doctor said, you're not going to We're going to
take care of this. They did, but it was really
important for me to sort of do something to reach
out and do some positive out of the cancer diagnosis.
(03:10):
And so I kept telling people, do self exams, do
your mammograms, do everything you can to be vigilant about
screening for cancer. And my doctor said, at the end
of all my treatment, people know you from the radio
and you've got a voice, and you can be a
person that can help out in this area. That has
a real problem. Most insurance companies will not pay for
(03:30):
a wig when you're going through chemotherapy treatment and it's
usually two weeks after your first treatment for chemo and
your hair comes out, and so getting a wig is expensive,
but insurance companies generally don't pay for that.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Why is that? Why don't they cover something like that?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, got me, I don't know. I mean just one
of those one.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Why do they do anything exactly?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Don't get me started. Yeah, you know, they kind of
run things. But so, so it is a need that
needs to be taken care of. Going through cancer is expensive.
You have copays, time off of work, deductibles, all of
that kind of stuff, and it's short of money. So
having a wig sometimes feels decadent, you know, like it's
an extra thing. It's superficial, But it is so important
(04:14):
to get your confidence back, to be able to go
out in public, to go to work, to go to school,
to be around your kids' sports games and not be
a distraction. So you disguise cancer by getting your hair
back on your head and feeling like you're back to yourself.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Now, that is your flag pole service that you do
the mission. But that's only a part of what what
hair piece does or what Bonnie Diver does. You should
remember how McDonald's used to have a sign like one
million burgers. You should have like, you know, one million
cancer patients. Because over the last couple of decades, how
(04:53):
many wow people, how many women and kids have you helped?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
You know the number? I can't tell you the whole
number over the past twenty two years that we've been
doing this, but I can't tell you we helped over
five hundred last year. And it looks like, you know,
we're on party do another five hundred dishes.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
That's five hundred individuals. But if you talk about families
gonna you're talking about three or four individuals in that
family you're helping because you counsel them because you've gone
through that journey, and you've you've walked with so many
people who have gone through the journey themselves, and so
you know, sometimes when I have not walked that journey,
(05:34):
I don't know what it's like. But if I was
diagnosed with cancer, I can imagine that it is a
frightening event when you first get that diagnosis, and to
know that there's a Bonnie Diver out there that can
help me kind of navigate that journey.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Absolutely. So what happens is that the hospitals or the
wig salons or wherever you go, they will give people
our card and people will call me. My phone numbers
are right there on there. So you call and leave
a message on my voicemail and I call every person
back and we have a conversation. So we say, yes,
you need help to pay for the WIG. We will
send out a check and will help in that way financially.
(06:14):
But what else is going on in your treatment? Where
are you are you getting ready to start chemo? Here's
how you may feel on these days, this day. Here's
some things that can help you. Here's some ways to
get through that, and just and there's so many things
that I've learned over the past twenty some years of
tricks and tips and just to understand where people are
(06:36):
coming from. So we help out even though I had
breast cancer, we help out women and girls with any
type of cancer. And again, I've learned a whole lot
more than I ever imagined about all the different types
of cancers and treatments and things like that. But you know,
just to be able to be a resource for people
who who just don't know. I mean, I didn't know
(06:57):
how to spell chemotherapy. Didn't you know the difference between
radiation and chemo, you know, I didn't you know all
these different things that you're just like, all I know
is cancer kills people, and that's the reality that's facing me.
Everything else stops and you just hear the word cancer.
So we try to get you back up to some
things that you can grab on to and help you
(07:19):
to feel like you have some control over what you're
going through again. And then we send out two books.
I have two books I send to each person once
called Prayers to Get Through Cancer, And it's all the
different situations you go through, like being able to tell
your kids that you're diagnosed, what it's like when you
are going through chemo to a prayer for your doctor,
or you're told you're fine, but you're afraid it'll come back.
(07:42):
So it's all these really great letters to God that
are part of this and it's been amazingly helpful. People
love it. The other book I have is called The
Warrior's Guide, and it's stuff we put together from different
articles and information that can help you to do better.
That gathered information that I have, So it talks about
the things that make us healthier in our lifestyle, so
(08:02):
the food that we eat, fighting stress super important, and
then physical activity, so all those things can help you
to be a better survivor and get through this on
the other side.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
All right, So some of the money that is going
to be raised for the fundraiser is helping those individuals
who need that kind of help. So we want to
get to We don't want to get too far without
mentioning Martin Rafer Hope, which is coming up on March
first at Hotel Inego on Technology Drive. What are the hours?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
It starts at six o'clock, so sort of a happy
hour thing, So six to eight o'clock. We like the
early times, don't we John even it's a Saturday night,
but yeah. And the nice thing is Hotel Indigoes also
has a special rate for our people that if you
go on to our website, we've got a button you
can click on takes you to make a reservation at
the hotel. You can stay overnight and it's a great
(08:53):
deal and they give us the really nice rooms for
like one hundred and nine dollars.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Okay, and you help some of the people who worked
it in the hotel in the goo. That's that's kind
of cool.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, so it all comes back, and that's what's so
cool is like, you know, there's no requirement to pay back,
there's no requirement to do anything. We it's a it's
a gift of grace. It's a gift that you never
thought you needed and here it is. Just accept this.
And because we're a community that cares about people who
are going through cancer, so that's a gift. And so
(09:23):
a lot of times people say, I want to do
something extra, so they volunteer Hotel Indigo. You know, we
help their employees, so they want to give back and
give us the opportunity to be there.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Lots of food, some drink, and some great music.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Auction is going to be really good.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
You took the words right out of them. Well, what
are some of the items that you have up for grabs?
Last year I.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Did something, well you snorted? Did you just start?
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I did?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
I love it pretty much.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I'd been on a Jerome Bettis autograph photo and which
I thought I was bidding on. Oh oops, and got
a snowblower. But but luckily I had enough time to
sign up for so I got both. I got I
got the autograph. If I could get a Jerome Bettis
(10:12):
autograph snowblower and perfect awesome.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
I love that. Okay, Well you know who Paul Skeins
is I do? Yeah, yeah, I think if you're in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Hannah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Maybe we have a signed jersey from Paul Skins, yes,
very nice. Yes, and we've got some.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I'm gonna bit on it and probably get a snow
shovel or something.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
BARBANKU growl, I w autographs show yeah right right, But
we we have some signed jerseys from the Penguins. We've
got some Steelers stuff like that as well, Joey Junior's
autograph on it on a jersey. We've got concert tickets,
we've got pens, tickets, wine baskets, some pampery things, really
(10:56):
nice things.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
So so do you have the raffle items, you have
live music, you got some celebrities.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yes, they're going to be trying to get the beads. Okay,
so that's kind of the cool thing. So we have
these celebrity couples that will be going around trying to
entice you to get the beads that you're given at
the front door. And whoever has the most beads at
the end of the night are crowned King and Queen
of Marty Graft.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
All right, so get more information on Marty Graft for Hope,
which is coming up on March first, starts at six
o'clock at Hotel Indego and Technology Drives.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
It's the day after myment birthday.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
By the way, Yeah, happy, Do you know that I did?
I did that?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
So, yeah, bring me up.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
I brought a cake a couple of years ago. I
need to do that again.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Okay, good to know.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Don't make me sing happy birthday. Nobody wants to hear
me sing.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, but we'll pay to have you not sing.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Okay, very good.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Good.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Are you still doing a recipe for Hope again.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Absolutely, yes, we got the date it set. This will
be our twentieth Recipe for Hope, twentieth annual yay right,
So it'll be August the twenty second at the Merinick
Center again and we're going to try to bring back
as many people as we can that have been a
celebrity chef in the past twenty years.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
And she brings a lot of radio and TV people.
We put on a little an aprons and we serve
out food and drink and things like that. Yeah, very fair.
And the work for that starts, well, it's already started.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Yeah, I got it.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
What's done with?
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And your are stack on my table? Would you like
to go to today? Bonnie? I know all these different things.
I do want to mention my sponsors though, they've been
so wonderful to help out. So for Marty Groffer, Hope,
Cindy Stock, Cindy Yates and Ted Yates who do their
events that helps out Hairpiece. They raise a lot of
money and they are now sponsors for Marty Graffer, Hope,
(12:41):
Salon Ioma, John Vento, the Williams Family, UPMC is coming
in and NSS Life is also going to be a sponsor.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
John Vento, our pal are from Christmas. Yes, his company
is helping out. Oh that he's a sweet Yeah, he's
a good guy. Yep, all right, and of course you
can help too. It's get your tickets at Hairpiece eace
dot org. But we're not done with Bonnie. I want
to talk a little bit. We talked about Marty Grafford,
(13:10):
Hope and Recipe for Hope. Those are your big fundraisers,
the money that you raise. What do you what do
you do with that money?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Well, we help. One of the important things for me
is to make sure that the money is raised. And
we are very very good stewards of the donations that
we get. Sometimes we'll have somebody that sets up ten
dollars a month to send to us, like automatically, and
that really helps. That's you know, all that little bit helps.
And then we have somebody that says, here's one thousand dollars,
(13:39):
so all that goes in. We do not pay for rent.
I do this all out of my house because I've
got a big old house, So we don't pay for rent,
and so it goes directly to women. We help out
with the financial aid. Write a check to send to
your salon where you're getting a wig, and then we
have the books and you know that's pretty clear right there.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
And the money you is explain kind of what Hair
Peace Charities does.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Right, So our mission is to help pay for wigs
for women and girls who with any type of cancer,
who are going through treatment and lose their hair with chemotherapy.
If your insurance company doesn't pay, if it's a financial
burden for you to pay for that wig, we come
through and we write the check and buy your wig
for you.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
And of course you know she also is a fantastic
advocate for people who are going through the journey of cancer. Yeah,
so what is the question when somebody calls you? What
is the what is the number? What do they ask you?
What are the things that they want to know?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Well, a lot of times they don't know what to ask.
So that's when I sort of say, where are you
in treatment? What's going on? And then I start to
get a picture of where they are and what Sometimes
they don't explain things quite right, and I try to
figure it out for them and say, okay, this is
what you need to focus on. They want to know
how they're going to feel, can they still work? And
(15:01):
so even going through getting ready to lose your hair,
you know when's that gonna happen and what's it like?
So you have to decide what is the right answer
for you. It's and everybody has a different answer. Are
you gonna cut your hair really really short? Are you
gonna shave it? You know? Are you gonna get advanced
before it even happens to get some control over that.
But what happens is your hair. The sensation you get
(15:24):
when you know it's getting ready to happen is that
your hair hurts. It feels like somebody's pulling a really
tight ponytail and twist in your hair. It's kind of
a strange sensation. But when it happens, you know it,
so you'll understand say, oh yeah, my hair hurts, And
that's when it's getting ready to loosen up. And so
you lose it and bits and pieces. It doesn't all
fall out like at one time, like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.
(15:45):
It comes out and bits and pieces over a few days,
and it just it just keeps feeling like spider webbing
is just like coming off and you know, oh there's
some hair there. You look down in the shower and
it's like, oh, is there a groundhog on my fe No,
it's your hair coming out. And so all these things
just to know that, to give people a little bit
(16:06):
of warning and let them know what that is like there,
and then to say you'll get through that and then
you'll be able to tack the next thing that you
go through, you know. So those are the things. And
sometimes you have neuropathy with the chemo treatments, there's ways
to get around that. You can with your hands in
your feet get numb, okay, and so if you take
(16:29):
bags of ice and put them on your hands and
feet while you're going through chemotherapy treatment at the hospital,
then that keeps the chemo from going into that area
and that helps. Yeah, Vitamin B six also helps with circulations,
so it helps with that as well. So there's all
these things like that that I can tell you about.
You know, if you have mouth sores, that happens sometimes
(16:50):
your saliva will dry up and then you get this
bacteria building up. Coconut oil is so easy and it's
like it's awesome. So you take the coconut oil, wish
that around in your mouth for five minutes and spit
it out and it's a drawing agent and it pulls
the bacteria and then it helps to coat your mouth
with some of that healing oil. And so it's good
that way. Brazil Nuts awesomely good. Johnny Hartwell, So, brazil
(17:13):
nuts are a natural source of selenium, and selenium will
help to keep your white count numbers boosted because chemo
drops those out, but it keeps your white count numbers up.
It's good, protein, good, fats, taste good. So eat five
or six brazil nuts every day while you're going through chemo,
and it'll keep your white count numbers up, your immune
system boosted.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I love brazil nuts always.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
You should only eat two a day if you're not
in treatment. I'm just telling you, Okay, yeah, I only
eat two if that chocolate covered there a time.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
All right, So twenty years ago you went through your
own journey. But then that journey doesn't really ever stop, doesn't.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
It's in the back of your mind. And so I
am very vigilant with clinical trials. There's some new things
that are going on for that kind of stuff. So
there're they're actually at McGee doing this very cool thing.
Doctor Wendy Berg has a clinical trial. You can sign
up with if you are a breast cancer survivor, and
when they do the mammogram sessions for you, they also
(18:12):
do a CT scan to see if there's any difference
of what they see, and the CT scan will see
a lot better than the mammogram. My mammogram never saw it.
I was a stick to it felt like the size
of a walnut. But I was forty six, pre menopausal,
dense breast, which means they're thicker, and so it was
hard for the mammogram to see it. They never saw
(18:32):
it on a mammogram, but we felt it. The biopsy
and everything confirmed it. So you've got to do as
many things as possible though that you can. You know,
be the best vigilant.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Per treatment is so important, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
One hundred percent. If you don't feel right about something,
if you have an issue with, oh, I've got this
kind of thing, this bloating, or I've got this, you know,
I feel like this pressure on here, I'm not breathing quite,
I can't get over this cold. Don't just say wait
another six months. You gotta really fight for yourself. So
I tell people that all the time, you've got to
(19:09):
stick up. And the stories I hear it's amazing that.
You know, my doctor told me just to wait another
six months to see what happened. And now I've got
stage three, you know, a varian cancer. So you've got
to really fight the best you can.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
So you started the hair Piece Charities two decades ago.
Do you remember your first person that you helped?
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Absolutely, Jane Morello. Yeah, she still comes out to our
Christmas luncheon that we do.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
And she's still she's still there.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
She's still there. Yeah, it's awesome. And she's like, I
was your first person. I said, you still are. It's awesome.
She's my number one. Yeah. And when I first started this,
I would go to visit every lady I talked to.
I would drive all over western Pennsylvania, take them some food,
and take them a prayer quilt and visit them and
see what they needed. But no way, I mean, I'm like,
(19:57):
you know, I'm talking to five women a day.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
We've talked amongst ourselves how important it is to have
a great attitude, a good a fighting attitude. But you
probably have faced a lot of heartache too.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Absolutely. Yeah, sometimes especially moms with kids, you know, and
I've heard stories like will my children recognize me? When
they die and they come to heaven, it's like, oh
my gosh. You know, I mean these crazy stories, things
that I hear that they're afraid to tell their family
(20:35):
and friends. But because I'm a survivor and I'm sort
of this third party and understand, they can tell me
these these fears that they have and I don't always
have an answer, but I will listen and say, you're
not alone.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Yeah, we and we've lost mutual friends and it's.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Difficult, you know, especially if it happens quick. It's a
hard thing. But you know, and it's hard for moms,
you know, Like I'll talk to mothers of children that
have cancer, and you know, I'm telling you, as a caregiver,
you got to take care of yourself too. You know,
You've got to take time. You've got to assign other
people to do things to help you out, because you're
(21:13):
not only taking care of the person who has cancer,
if you're trying to take care of yourself. And do
you sleep good at night? Probably not. That's really bad.
You got to sleep good at night. So you've got
to take care of yourself and leave the stuff on
the kitchen table and walk away for a while.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Now, living in Pittsburgh. We're very fortunate that we see
a lot of research and we have we have amazing facilities. Yeah,
but it's still not enough. You still need a community
that is going to help those individuals get through that journey.
And that's exactly what the hair Piece does.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Yeah, Unfortunately, there's this there's so many cases that the
doctors are overloaded with appointments and so sometimes it takes
a while to get in or you just feel like
you're not getting the attention you need that kind of stuff.
It's so we do have a very high incident of
cancer in this region. We're one of the top five
cities in the country for lung cancer. Really yeah, I
(22:07):
mean smoking, of course, you know, is an issue. But
some people I talked to that never smoked and they
still have lung cancer. So it just there's some stuff
going on. And again, be vigilant and you know, if
you if something doesn't seem right, get it checked out.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
All right. So, if if somebody wants to be a
volunteer or needs more information on hair Piece charities, what
do you recommend?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Sure you to go to our website. We have a
lot of great information on our website for people who
want to donate and help out, or I've got some
testimonials there from some of the people we've helped. This
little lady that one time said I felt so good
after I got my wig. I put on lipstick and
we went out to dinner. I mean, it's just so sweet,
you know, to be able to say I've given somebody
(22:52):
back some dignity. I've given them something to regain that
cancer tries to take away because it takes away bits
and pieces of us. So the website is good Hairpiece
peace dot org. I also have some videos from survivors
that talk about different things that were important to them
as they went through their journey. So that's a great resource.
And then call me four one two, three, two seven,
(23:13):
five one seven seven phone numbers on the screen, right.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, on the radio.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Yeah, so yeah, So you give me a call and
I don't see oh gosh, all right kid, Well yeah,
four one two, three, two seven, five one seven seven,
give me a call, leave a message and I will
call you back. And I can talk to husbands, caregivers, survivors,
whoever needs to make the call to find out more
(23:38):
information about how we can help out. The wig Salon
listing is also at our website. It's really important to
not get a fashion wig or something at the mall.
You know, these are things that need to be custom
h fit for you. And we've got some really great
wig partners that help out that are listed on our website.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
And if you're thinking about donating a.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Wig, yeah, don't send me the box of wigs please.
I do have a place where it says donate your
wig or your ponytail on the website and that will
tell you the addresses of where to send them, not
to me, please, Okay. Tell us a little bit about
your your volunteer team. Yeah, so we've got a great
board of directors. They help out with you know, the fundraising,
(24:21):
the events. We like to go out and talk to
civic groups. So if you've got a rotary club or
a civic club or a church group of people that
that meet and have speakers. I love to talk really, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
I had yours. I'm learning something about Bonnie Diver that
I didn't wasn't aware.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Of, right, So yeah, so I do. I love to
speak about it's it's such a great passion and and
I always hope that somebody gets something out of it.
You know, like you've got to eat good and so
how do you do that? You know, lemons and your
water so good for you. Add that lemon in there,
green tea, go to that if you can. You know,
(25:03):
garlic is so good for you. Do you like garlic?
Speaker 4 (25:05):
I love garlic, good for you. Yeah, nice lemon in
my water. But I prefer a little cocktail. A little
cocktail because that's what I'm serving. Yeah, what what did
we determine? It's a mart Martini gras Martini gras. Yeaheni
gras Martini.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
How's that saying?
Speaker 2 (25:22):
I love it?
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Yeah, I'm going to be helping out Hairpiece Charities coming
up on March first at Hotel Inigo. It's Marti Gras
for Hope.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
It benefits hair Piece Charities. It's on Technology Drive. It
starts at six o'clock, so it's early for Yeah, I
feel like you're doing it for me. I am, of course,
I am going to stay off past.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
It's just for you. And so yeah, so we've got
the King's Cocktail or whatever you're going to call it, Marty,
what is it? Marty Martini Gras Martini gras. Okay, all right,
we'll have to write that down. So yeah, so you'll
be there. We've got some celebrities there, We've got great food.
The live music that's going to be Neworleans style. John
Gresh is great and they've just last year. Yeah yeah,
(26:06):
he's great.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
So it's all it's really fun. And so we've got
the auction, We've got the mystery bags. Marsha's going to
be there for that, which is great and so just
great fun. And you're going to be helping out so
many women by doing this event and dress up. You know,
I when I first did this, I was like, you know,
you can dress up if you want. People. It's like Halloween,
all the feathers and the purple, green and gold, and I.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Never dress up. I should do it this year.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah right, Oh my gosh, I never know what he's
going to Wait if you follow us on social oh yes,
So it is lots of fun. We we just have
a great Yeah. So we've got Scott Baker from Jenny
Lee Bakery. He's going to be doing some kind of
decadent grilled cheese right there. Chef Nick from the Renaissance
Hotel does a seafood gumbo. Doug Oaster is going to
(26:53):
do something with garlic, probably shrimps of some sort. Laurie
Geiger with her meatballs of course, yes, yes, nothing. Butt
Cakes are going to make some Marty Grau butt cakes
for us. Billy Joe Marshall makes our special cookies that
has pictures of all of us on there so you
can eat Johnny Hartwell's face.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Thanks you for that, Uh huh. All right, we only
have about a minute left. So we talked about the food,
we talked about the drink, we talked about the music.
Can you give us a little more details on the
raffle items.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Sure, Yeah, the Paul Skien's jersey that's autographed, that's awesome.
We've got some Pens jerseys, We've got some Steelers jerseys.
We've got wine baskets, some really cool designer purses and
things like that, concert tickets and and yeah. So it's
going to be it's super fun that you know, you
can bid on the auction stuff, you can buy beads
and get our celebrities, king and queen crowns that we
(27:49):
will have and it's just gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Marty Gras for Hope. It's going to be at Hotel
Indigo in between kind of Oakland and Bridge area. Yep.
It starts at six o'clock at more information at Hairpiece
Eace dot org. Yep. Make sure you dress up in
your Marti Gras. I'll fit your best one. I don't
know if mine's going to show up in time. It
(28:14):
was supposed to show up like last week.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
And well there's always next year, and that happened to me.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
This is March first, but looking forward to a recipe
for Hope, which is going to be in summertime. We'll
talk more about that in the summer. Let's focus on
Marti gra for Hope and he's a great cause. So
is there anything that we left out that we need
to mention.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
No, just make sure you go to the website. That's
where you'll be able to click and get your tickets
for Marti Gras. It's Hairpiecepeace dot org. You can also
get your hotel link there to stay overnight so it's fun,
you can drink up and just crash.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
And your sponsors you want to mention some of those.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Sure, Cindy Stock, Salon Ioma, John Vento, the Williams Family,
UPMC and NSS Life.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Martie Grofer Hope March first, at Hotel Indigo helps out
hair Peace Charities. Get your tickets and information at hairpeaceace
dot org dot org. And if if you want to
call Bonnie, if you have if you're going through cancer,
you've been diagnosed, or maybe you have a loved one,
what is your number again?
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Four one two three two seven five one seven seven.
That's also at the website.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
So Proud to be your friend. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Well, thank you for helping out my friend.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
If you have any comments, concerns, or an idea for
a future program, please email us from this radio station's website.
I'm Johnny Hartwell, thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Marti Graffer Hope is coming. I'm Bonnie Diver, cancer survivor
and founder of hair Peace Charities. Joining us at Marti
Groffer Hope On March first, celebrities work to earn the
crowns of King and Queen of Marti Gras. There's New
Orleans band, great food. Get tickets and learn more more
about our programs at HAIRPS dot org
And welcome in. This is a public affairs program shedding
the light on the interest, issues and concerns of the
greater Pittsburgh Aaria. Good morning. My name is Johnny Hartwell,
your host and in studio an old friend of ours,
Bonnie Diver from Hair Peace Charities. Good morning, Bonnie. How
are you hi?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm great. Thank you for having me in here.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Well, you're in the studio and I have a feeling
that might be because Marty Graffer Hope is just around
the corner. So tell us everything we need to know
about your little shindig.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, special event coming up. It's on March the first.
We're going to have Marty Groffer Hope. We've been doing
this for a few years. It was sort of one
of those things that came out of COVID and with
some other events that we had to change around for times,
and they said, well, let's do something in the spring,
and Marty gral came up. Hotel Indigo is where we
do that. And they've been very generous with us because
(00:52):
we helped some of their employees when they were going
through cancer. So they wanted to give back and they said,
if you want to do something here, we'd be happy
to hope.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I didn't know that because I know it's a great
little area. Yeah, it's perfect for this event. Yeah, that's
a nice little connection. I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, now now you know.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
So hotel in Ago. If you don't know where that is,
it's sort of in Oakland. It's just a couple of the.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Technology Drive right off the Parkway East. Yeah, Technic down
by the Hot Metal Bridge, because there's two of them,
so you got to make sure Technology Drive. Okay, So
that's where we are, and it's on March first, they are,
so it's such a fun place to be. Of course,
we have live music. John Grush is going to bring
his New Orleans band back again, so that'll be happening.
We've got lots of great food that's going to be
(01:36):
all New Orleans up. You know, like Chef Nick from
Renaissance Hotel is going to do some gumbo. The Oaster
is going to do something with shrimp and whatever else,
probably garlic, I'm sure we've got. Oh, Scott Baker from
Jenny Lee Bakery is going to be there doing like,
I don't know, grilled cheese or something.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Whatever he makes, it's always fantastic.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
So it's so good. Yeah. And we've got our desserts
coming from Billie Joe Marshall. She's got her cookies coming nothing.
Butt cakes are going to be there. Oh, I can't
leave out Lori Geiger. She's going to bring meatballs.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Oh okay, she always does though she loves her meatballs. Well,
we love her meatball so it goes together. Yep. And
do you have a special bartender.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
We do. We have a celebrity bartender back by popular demand,
Johnny Hartwell, hey that's you.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Hey, that's me. So yeah, the whole event is happening
on March first. To get more information, you can go
to the website, which is Hairpiece Peace dot org and
you get more information and it benefits Hairpiece Charity. So
let's get into that, you know, tell us everything about
the organization.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Sure, hair Peace started. I can't believe it's been so
many years. I lost ty year.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
You say that after twenty.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I went what hot? You know, It's like I don't
even remember how old I am, you know, But two
thousand and three I had breast cancer and I went
through the whole process of everything I needed to do.
My doctor said, you're not going to We're going to
take care of this. They did, but it was really
important for me to sort of do something to reach
out and do some positive out of the cancer diagnosis.
(03:10):
And so I kept telling people, do self exams, do
your mammograms, do everything you can to be vigilant about
screening for cancer. And my doctor said, at the end
of all my treatment, people know you from the radio
and you've got a voice, and you can be a
person that can help out in this area. That has
a real problem. Most insurance companies will not pay for
(03:30):
a wig when you're going through chemotherapy treatment and it's
usually two weeks after your first treatment for chemo and
your hair comes out, and so getting a wig is expensive,
but insurance companies generally don't pay for that.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Why is that? Why don't they cover something like that?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, got me, I don't know. I mean just one
of those one.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Why do they do anything exactly?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Don't get me started. Yeah, you know, they kind of
run things. But so, so it is a need that
needs to be taken care of. Going through cancer is expensive.
You have copays, time off of work, deductibles, all of
that kind of stuff, and it's short of money. So
having a wig sometimes feels decadent, you know, like it's
an extra thing. It's superficial, But it is so important
(04:14):
to get your confidence back, to be able to go
out in public, to go to work, to go to school,
to be around your kids' sports games and not be
a distraction. So you disguise cancer by getting your hair
back on your head and feeling like you're back to yourself.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Now, that is your flag pole service that you do
the mission. But that's only a part of what what
hair piece does or what Bonnie Diver does. You should
remember how McDonald's used to have a sign like one
million burgers. You should have like, you know, one million
cancer patients. Because over the last couple of decades, how
(04:53):
many wow people, how many women and kids have you helped?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
You know the number? I can't tell you the whole
number over the past twenty two years that we've been
doing this, but I can't tell you we helped over
five hundred last year. And it looks like, you know,
we're on party do another five hundred dishes.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
That's five hundred individuals. But if you talk about families
gonna you're talking about three or four individuals in that
family you're helping because you counsel them because you've gone
through that journey, and you've you've walked with so many
people who have gone through the journey themselves, and so
you know, sometimes when I have not walked that journey,
(05:34):
I don't know what it's like. But if I was
diagnosed with cancer, I can imagine that it is a
frightening event when you first get that diagnosis, and to
know that there's a Bonnie Diver out there that can
help me kind of navigate that journey.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Absolutely. So what happens is that the hospitals or the
wig salons or wherever you go, they will give people
our card and people will call me. My phone numbers
are right there on there. So you call and leave
a message on my voicemail and I call every person
back and we have a conversation. So we say, yes,
you need help to pay for the WIG. We will
send out a check and will help in that way financially.
(06:14):
But what else is going on in your treatment? Where
are you are you getting ready to start chemo? Here's
how you may feel on these days, this day. Here's
some things that can help you. Here's some ways to
get through that, and just and there's so many things
that I've learned over the past twenty some years of
tricks and tips and just to understand where people are
(06:36):
coming from. So we help out even though I had
breast cancer, we help out women and girls with any
type of cancer. And again, I've learned a whole lot
more than I ever imagined about all the different types
of cancers and treatments and things like that. But you know,
just to be able to be a resource for people
who who just don't know. I mean, I didn't know
(06:57):
how to spell chemotherapy. Didn't you know the difference between
radiation and chemo, you know, I didn't you know all
these different things that you're just like, all I know
is cancer kills people, and that's the reality that's facing me.
Everything else stops and you just hear the word cancer.
So we try to get you back up to some
things that you can grab on to and help you
(07:19):
to feel like you have some control over what you're
going through again. And then we send out two books.
I have two books I send to each person once
called Prayers to Get Through Cancer, And it's all the
different situations you go through, like being able to tell
your kids that you're diagnosed, what it's like when you
are going through chemo to a prayer for your doctor,
or you're told you're fine, but you're afraid it'll come back.
(07:42):
So it's all these really great letters to God that
are part of this and it's been amazingly helpful. People
love it. The other book I have is called The
Warrior's Guide, and it's stuff we put together from different
articles and information that can help you to do better.
That gathered information that I have, So it talks about
the things that make us healthier in our lifestyle, so
(08:02):
the food that we eat, fighting stress super important, and
then physical activity, so all those things can help you
to be a better survivor and get through this on
the other side.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
All right, So some of the money that is going
to be raised for the fundraiser is helping those individuals
who need that kind of help. So we want to
get to We don't want to get too far without
mentioning Martin Rafer Hope, which is coming up on March
first at Hotel Inego on Technology Drive. What are the hours?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
It starts at six o'clock, so sort of a happy
hour thing, So six to eight o'clock. We like the
early times, don't we John even it's a Saturday night,
but yeah. And the nice thing is Hotel Indigoes also
has a special rate for our people that if you
go on to our website, we've got a button you
can click on takes you to make a reservation at
the hotel. You can stay overnight and it's a great
(08:53):
deal and they give us the really nice rooms for
like one hundred and nine dollars.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Okay, and you help some of the people who worked
it in the hotel in the goo. That's that's kind
of cool.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, so it all comes back, and that's what's so
cool is like, you know, there's no requirement to pay back,
there's no requirement to do anything. We it's a it's
a gift of grace. It's a gift that you never
thought you needed and here it is. Just accept this.
And because we're a community that cares about people who
are going through cancer, so that's a gift. And so
(09:23):
a lot of times people say, I want to do
something extra, so they volunteer Hotel Indigo. You know, we
help their employees, so they want to give back and
give us the opportunity to be there.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Lots of food, some drink, and some great music.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Auction is going to be really good.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
You took the words right out of them. Well, what
are some of the items that you have up for grabs?
Last year I.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Did something, well you snorted? Did you just start?
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I did?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
I love it pretty much.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I'd been on a Jerome Bettis autograph photo and which
I thought I was bidding on. Oh oops, and got
a snowblower. But but luckily I had enough time to
sign up for so I got both. I got I
got the autograph. If I could get a Jerome Bettis
(10:12):
autograph snowblower and perfect awesome.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
I love that. Okay, Well you know who Paul Skeins
is I do? Yeah, yeah, I think if you're in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Hannah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Maybe we have a signed jersey from Paul Skins, yes,
very nice. Yes, and we've got some.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I'm gonna bit on it and probably get a snow
shovel or something.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
BARBANKU growl, I w autographs show yeah right right, But
we we have some signed jerseys from the Penguins. We've
got some Steelers stuff like that as well, Joey Junior's
autograph on it on a jersey. We've got concert tickets,
we've got pens, tickets, wine baskets, some pampery things, really
(10:56):
nice things.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
So so do you have the raffle items, you have
live music, you got some celebrities.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yes, they're going to be trying to get the beads. Okay,
so that's kind of the cool thing. So we have
these celebrity couples that will be going around trying to
entice you to get the beads that you're given at
the front door. And whoever has the most beads at
the end of the night are crowned King and Queen
of Marty Graft.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
All right, so get more information on Marty Graft for Hope,
which is coming up on March first, starts at six
o'clock at Hotel Indego and Technology Drives.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
It's the day after myment birthday.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
By the way, Yeah, happy, Do you know that I did?
I did that?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
So, yeah, bring me up.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
I brought a cake a couple of years ago. I
need to do that again.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Okay, good to know.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Don't make me sing happy birthday. Nobody wants to hear
me sing.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, but we'll pay to have you not sing.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Okay, very good.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Good.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Are you still doing a recipe for Hope again.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Absolutely, yes, we got the date it set. This will
be our twentieth Recipe for Hope, twentieth annual yay right,
So it'll be August the twenty second at the Merinick
Center again and we're going to try to bring back
as many people as we can that have been a
celebrity chef in the past twenty years.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
And she brings a lot of radio and TV people.
We put on a little an aprons and we serve
out food and drink and things like that. Yeah, very fair.
And the work for that starts, well, it's already started.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Yeah, I got it.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
What's done with?
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And your are stack on my table? Would you like
to go to today? Bonnie? I know all these different things.
I do want to mention my sponsors though, they've been
so wonderful to help out. So for Marty Groffer, Hope,
Cindy Stock, Cindy Yates and Ted Yates who do their
events that helps out Hairpiece. They raise a lot of
money and they are now sponsors for Marty Graffer, Hope,
(12:41):
Salon Ioma, John Vento, the Williams Family, UPMC is coming
in and NSS Life is also going to be a sponsor.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
John Vento, our pal are from Christmas. Yes, his company
is helping out. Oh that he's a sweet Yeah, he's
a good guy. Yep, all right, and of course you
can help too. It's get your tickets at Hairpiece eace
dot org. But we're not done with Bonnie. I want
to talk a little bit. We talked about Marty Grafford,
(13:10):
Hope and Recipe for Hope. Those are your big fundraisers,
the money that you raise. What do you what do
you do with that money?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Well, we help. One of the important things for me
is to make sure that the money is raised. And
we are very very good stewards of the donations that
we get. Sometimes we'll have somebody that sets up ten
dollars a month to send to us, like automatically, and
that really helps. That's you know, all that little bit helps.
And then we have somebody that says, here's one thousand dollars,
(13:39):
so all that goes in. We do not pay for rent.
I do this all out of my house because I've
got a big old house, So we don't pay for rent,
and so it goes directly to women. We help out
with the financial aid. Write a check to send to
your salon where you're getting a wig, and then we
have the books and you know that's pretty clear right there.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
And the money you is explain kind of what Hair
Peace Charities does.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Right, So our mission is to help pay for wigs
for women and girls who with any type of cancer,
who are going through treatment and lose their hair with chemotherapy.
If your insurance company doesn't pay, if it's a financial
burden for you to pay for that wig, we come
through and we write the check and buy your wig
for you.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
And of course you know she also is a fantastic
advocate for people who are going through the journey of cancer. Yeah,
so what is the question when somebody calls you? What
is the what is the number? What do they ask you?
What are the things that they want to know?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Well, a lot of times they don't know what to ask.
So that's when I sort of say, where are you
in treatment? What's going on? And then I start to
get a picture of where they are and what Sometimes
they don't explain things quite right, and I try to
figure it out for them and say, okay, this is
what you need to focus on. They want to know
how they're going to feel, can they still work? And
(15:01):
so even going through getting ready to lose your hair,
you know when's that gonna happen and what's it like?
So you have to decide what is the right answer
for you. It's and everybody has a different answer. Are
you gonna cut your hair really really short? Are you
gonna shave it? You know? Are you gonna get advanced
before it even happens to get some control over that.
But what happens is your hair. The sensation you get
(15:24):
when you know it's getting ready to happen is that
your hair hurts. It feels like somebody's pulling a really
tight ponytail and twist in your hair. It's kind of
a strange sensation. But when it happens, you know it,
so you'll understand say, oh yeah, my hair hurts, And
that's when it's getting ready to loosen up. And so
you lose it and bits and pieces. It doesn't all
fall out like at one time, like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.
(15:45):
It comes out and bits and pieces over a few days,
and it just it just keeps feeling like spider webbing
is just like coming off and you know, oh there's
some hair there. You look down in the shower and
it's like, oh, is there a groundhog on my fe No,
it's your hair coming out. And so all these things
just to know that, to give people a little bit
(16:06):
of warning and let them know what that is like there,
and then to say you'll get through that and then
you'll be able to tack the next thing that you
go through, you know. So those are the things. And
sometimes you have neuropathy with the chemo treatments, there's ways
to get around that. You can with your hands in
your feet get numb, okay, and so if you take
(16:29):
bags of ice and put them on your hands and
feet while you're going through chemotherapy treatment at the hospital,
then that keeps the chemo from going into that area
and that helps. Yeah, Vitamin B six also helps with circulations,
so it helps with that as well. So there's all
these things like that that I can tell you about.
You know, if you have mouth sores, that happens sometimes
(16:50):
your saliva will dry up and then you get this
bacteria building up. Coconut oil is so easy and it's
like it's awesome. So you take the coconut oil, wish
that around in your mouth for five minutes and spit
it out and it's a drawing agent and it pulls
the bacteria and then it helps to coat your mouth
with some of that healing oil. And so it's good
that way. Brazil Nuts awesomely good. Johnny Hartwell, So, brazil
(17:13):
nuts are a natural source of selenium, and selenium will
help to keep your white count numbers boosted because chemo
drops those out, but it keeps your white count numbers up.
It's good, protein, good, fats, taste good. So eat five
or six brazil nuts every day while you're going through chemo,
and it'll keep your white count numbers up, your immune
system boosted.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I love brazil nuts always.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
You should only eat two a day if you're not
in treatment. I'm just telling you, Okay, yeah, I only
eat two if that chocolate covered there a time.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
All right, So twenty years ago you went through your
own journey. But then that journey doesn't really ever stop, doesn't.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
It's in the back of your mind. And so I
am very vigilant with clinical trials. There's some new things
that are going on for that kind of stuff. So
there're they're actually at McGee doing this very cool thing.
Doctor Wendy Berg has a clinical trial. You can sign
up with if you are a breast cancer survivor, and
when they do the mammogram sessions for you, they also
(18:12):
do a CT scan to see if there's any difference
of what they see, and the CT scan will see
a lot better than the mammogram. My mammogram never saw it.
I was a stick to it felt like the size
of a walnut. But I was forty six, pre menopausal,
dense breast, which means they're thicker, and so it was
hard for the mammogram to see it. They never saw
(18:32):
it on a mammogram, but we felt it. The biopsy
and everything confirmed it. So you've got to do as
many things as possible though that you can. You know,
be the best vigilant.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Per treatment is so important, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
One hundred percent. If you don't feel right about something,
if you have an issue with, oh, I've got this
kind of thing, this bloating, or I've got this, you know,
I feel like this pressure on here, I'm not breathing quite,
I can't get over this cold. Don't just say wait
another six months. You gotta really fight for yourself. So
I tell people that all the time, you've got to
(19:09):
stick up. And the stories I hear it's amazing that.
You know, my doctor told me just to wait another
six months to see what happened. And now I've got
stage three, you know, a varian cancer. So you've got
to really fight the best you can.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
So you started the hair Piece Charities two decades ago.
Do you remember your first person that you helped?
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Absolutely, Jane Morello. Yeah, she still comes out to our
Christmas luncheon that we do.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
And she's still she's still there.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
She's still there. Yeah, it's awesome. And she's like, I
was your first person. I said, you still are. It's awesome.
She's my number one. Yeah. And when I first started this,
I would go to visit every lady I talked to.
I would drive all over western Pennsylvania, take them some food,
and take them a prayer quilt and visit them and
see what they needed. But no way, I mean, I'm like,
(19:57):
you know, I'm talking to five women a day.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
We've talked amongst ourselves how important it is to have
a great attitude, a good a fighting attitude. But you
probably have faced a lot of heartache too.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Absolutely. Yeah, sometimes especially moms with kids, you know, and
I've heard stories like will my children recognize me? When
they die and they come to heaven, it's like, oh
my gosh. You know, I mean these crazy stories, things
that I hear that they're afraid to tell their family
(20:35):
and friends. But because I'm a survivor and I'm sort
of this third party and understand, they can tell me
these these fears that they have and I don't always
have an answer, but I will listen and say, you're
not alone.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Yeah, we and we've lost mutual friends and it's.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Difficult, you know, especially if it happens quick. It's a
hard thing. But you know, and it's hard for moms,
you know, Like I'll talk to mothers of children that
have cancer, and you know, I'm telling you, as a caregiver,
you got to take care of yourself too. You know,
You've got to take time. You've got to assign other
people to do things to help you out, because you're
(21:13):
not only taking care of the person who has cancer,
if you're trying to take care of yourself. And do
you sleep good at night? Probably not. That's really bad.
You got to sleep good at night. So you've got
to take care of yourself and leave the stuff on
the kitchen table and walk away for a while.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Now, living in Pittsburgh. We're very fortunate that we see
a lot of research and we have we have amazing facilities. Yeah,
but it's still not enough. You still need a community
that is going to help those individuals get through that journey.
And that's exactly what the hair Piece does.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Yeah, Unfortunately, there's this there's so many cases that the
doctors are overloaded with appointments and so sometimes it takes
a while to get in or you just feel like
you're not getting the attention you need that kind of stuff.
It's so we do have a very high incident of
cancer in this region. We're one of the top five
cities in the country for lung cancer. Really yeah, I
(22:07):
mean smoking, of course, you know, is an issue. But
some people I talked to that never smoked and they
still have lung cancer. So it just there's some stuff
going on. And again, be vigilant and you know, if
you if something doesn't seem right, get it checked out.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
All right. So, if if somebody wants to be a
volunteer or needs more information on hair Piece charities, what
do you recommend?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Sure you to go to our website. We have a
lot of great information on our website for people who
want to donate and help out, or I've got some
testimonials there from some of the people we've helped. This
little lady that one time said I felt so good
after I got my wig. I put on lipstick and
we went out to dinner. I mean, it's just so sweet,
you know, to be able to say I've given somebody
(22:52):
back some dignity. I've given them something to regain that
cancer tries to take away because it takes away bits
and pieces of us. So the website is good Hairpiece
peace dot org. I also have some videos from survivors
that talk about different things that were important to them
as they went through their journey. So that's a great resource.
And then call me four one two, three, two seven,
(23:13):
five one seven seven phone numbers on the screen, right.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, on the radio.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Yeah, so yeah, So you give me a call and
I don't see oh gosh, all right kid, Well yeah,
four one two, three, two seven, five one seven seven,
give me a call, leave a message and I will
call you back. And I can talk to husbands, caregivers, survivors,
whoever needs to make the call to find out more
(23:38):
information about how we can help out. The wig Salon
listing is also at our website. It's really important to
not get a fashion wig or something at the mall.
You know, these are things that need to be custom
h fit for you. And we've got some really great
wig partners that help out that are listed on our website.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
And if you're thinking about donating a.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Wig, yeah, don't send me the box of wigs please.
I do have a place where it says donate your
wig or your ponytail on the website and that will
tell you the addresses of where to send them, not
to me, please, Okay. Tell us a little bit about
your your volunteer team. Yeah, so we've got a great
board of directors. They help out with you know, the fundraising,
(24:21):
the events. We like to go out and talk to
civic groups. So if you've got a rotary club or
a civic club or a church group of people that
that meet and have speakers. I love to talk really, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
I had yours. I'm learning something about Bonnie Diver that
I didn't wasn't aware.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Of, right, So yeah, so I do. I love to
speak about it's it's such a great passion and and
I always hope that somebody gets something out of it.
You know, like you've got to eat good and so
how do you do that? You know, lemons and your
water so good for you. Add that lemon in there,
green tea, go to that if you can. You know,
(25:03):
garlic is so good for you. Do you like garlic?
Speaker 4 (25:05):
I love garlic, good for you. Yeah, nice lemon in
my water. But I prefer a little cocktail. A little
cocktail because that's what I'm serving. Yeah, what what did
we determine? It's a mart Martini gras Martini gras. Yeaheni
gras Martini.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
How's that saying?
Speaker 2 (25:22):
I love it?
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Yeah, I'm going to be helping out Hairpiece Charities coming
up on March first at Hotel Inigo. It's Marti Gras
for Hope.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
It benefits hair Piece Charities. It's on Technology Drive. It
starts at six o'clock, so it's early for Yeah, I
feel like you're doing it for me. I am, of course,
I am going to stay off past.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
It's just for you. And so yeah, so we've got
the King's Cocktail or whatever you're going to call it, Marty,
what is it? Marty Martini Gras Martini gras. Okay, all right,
we'll have to write that down. So yeah, so you'll
be there. We've got some celebrities there, We've got great food.
The live music that's going to be Neworleans style. John
Gresh is great and they've just last year. Yeah yeah,
(26:06):
he's great.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
So it's all it's really fun. And so we've got
the auction, We've got the mystery bags. Marsha's going to
be there for that, which is great and so just
great fun. And you're going to be helping out so
many women by doing this event and dress up. You know,
I when I first did this, I was like, you know,
you can dress up if you want. People. It's like Halloween,
all the feathers and the purple, green and gold, and I.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Never dress up. I should do it this year.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah right, Oh my gosh, I never know what he's
going to Wait if you follow us on social oh yes,
So it is lots of fun. We we just have
a great Yeah. So we've got Scott Baker from Jenny
Lee Bakery. He's going to be doing some kind of
decadent grilled cheese right there. Chef Nick from the Renaissance
Hotel does a seafood gumbo. Doug Oaster is going to
(26:53):
do something with garlic, probably shrimps of some sort. Laurie
Geiger with her meatballs of course, yes, yes, nothing. Butt
Cakes are going to make some Marty Grau butt cakes
for us. Billy Joe Marshall makes our special cookies that
has pictures of all of us on there so you
can eat Johnny Hartwell's face.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Thanks you for that, Uh huh. All right, we only
have about a minute left. So we talked about the food,
we talked about the drink, we talked about the music.
Can you give us a little more details on the
raffle items.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Sure, Yeah, the Paul Skien's jersey that's autographed, that's awesome.
We've got some Pens jerseys, We've got some Steelers jerseys.
We've got wine baskets, some really cool designer purses and
things like that, concert tickets and and yeah. So it's
going to be it's super fun that you know, you
can bid on the auction stuff, you can buy beads
and get our celebrities, king and queen crowns that we
(27:49):
will have and it's just gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Marty Gras for Hope. It's going to be at Hotel
Indigo in between kind of Oakland and Bridge area. Yep.
It starts at six o'clock at more information at Hairpiece
Eace dot org. Yep. Make sure you dress up in
your Marti Gras. I'll fit your best one. I don't
know if mine's going to show up in time. It
(28:14):
was supposed to show up like last week.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
And well there's always next year, and that happened to me.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
This is March first, but looking forward to a recipe
for Hope, which is going to be in summertime. We'll
talk more about that in the summer. Let's focus on
Marti gra for Hope and he's a great cause. So
is there anything that we left out that we need
to mention.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
No, just make sure you go to the website. That's
where you'll be able to click and get your tickets
for Marti Gras. It's Hairpiecepeace dot org. You can also
get your hotel link there to stay overnight so it's fun,
you can drink up and just crash.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
And your sponsors you want to mention some of those.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Sure, Cindy Stock, Salon Ioma, John Vento, the Williams Family,
UPMC and NSS Life.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Martie Grofer Hope March first, at Hotel Indigo helps out
hair Peace Charities. Get your tickets and information at hairpeaceace
dot org dot org. And if if you want to
call Bonnie, if you have if you're going through cancer,
you've been diagnosed, or maybe you have a loved one,
what is your number again?
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Four one two three two seven five one seven seven.
That's also at the website.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
So Proud to be your friend. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Well, thank you for helping out my friend.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
If you have any comments, concerns, or an idea for
a future program, please email us from this radio station's website.
I'm Johnny Hartwell, thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Marti Graffer Hope is coming. I'm Bonnie Diver, cancer survivor
and founder of hair Peace Charities. Joining us at Marti
Groffer Hope On March first, celebrities work to earn the
crowns of King and Queen of Marti Gras. There's New
Orleans band, great food. Get tickets and learn more more
about our programs at HAIRPS dot org
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