Why I Started Plates With Purpose People often ask me where the idea for Plates With Purpose came from. The truth is, it feels like I’ve been building toward it my entire life. Long before I worked in nonprofit development, I spent my career in restaurants. I started as a line cook, where I quickly […]
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Backpacks, Bus Stops, and Borrowed Time I cried while taking pictures of my oldest son on the first day of his senior year of high school. Not because he was a senior. Not because summer had come to an end. Not because I wasn’t ready for him to grow up (well kind of).. I cried
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Navigating Cancer with Connection: Insights from Jackie Herigot of Imerman Angels A Life Shaped by Cancer—and Connection Jackie Herigot’s connection to cancer began long before her professional role. After losing several family members to the disease, including her mother, cancer became a defining part of her life story. For years, she associated it with diagnosis
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This is Why We Make Art The Jacqueline Carmody Creative Artist Award 2025 The Jacqueline Carmody Creative Artist Award is one of the most meaningful recognitions we give at Twist Out Cancer. It’s named for Jackie Carmody — our Director of Twistshops, art therapist, and someone who has been part of this community since 2013.
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Creating Through Connection: A Guide for Artists in the Twist Out Cancer Community Art has always been a powerful language, but within the Twist Out Cancer community, it becomes something even more meaningful. It becomes a bridge. Through the Brushes with Cancer program, artists are invited into a deeply human experience—one that goes beyond technique
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The Community I Needed, the One We Built Together At 29, my world was upended by a diagnosis of gray zone lymphoma, a rare blood cancer affecting fewer than 200 people worldwide. In an instant, I was thrust into a place of profound isolation and fear, and yet within that darkness, something unexpected took hold:
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Navigating Cancer Treatment: My Practical Tips for the Journey Cancer treatment is not one-size-fits-all. It’s layered, emotional, and often unpredictable. At Twist Out Cancer, we believe in sharing real experiences—because when we share, we create connection, and through connection, we find strength. When a friend reaches out to me either for themselves or for a
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Grounded and Flowing: The Art of Living with Stage IV Cancer There is a moment in every Brushes with Cancer pairing when two strangers realize they have more in common than they expected. For Barbara Bigelow and Philadelphia artist Briana Green, that moment came through months of wide-ranging conversation: an extrovert and an introvert finding
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Matt Eckerle, 2026 Recipient of the Jacqueline Carmody Creative Artist Award Matt Eckerle’s words at the 2026 Winter Brushes with Cancer Celebration and Exhibition as he accepted his artist recognition. “Patty Eckerle is why I’m here tonight, for so many reasons. She is the sweetest, kindest, most selfless person I’ve ever known. She’s also the
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How Art and Advocacy Transform the Cancer Experience When most people hear the word cancer, they think of fear, uncertainty, and loss. But within the Twist Out Cancer community, another narrative is unfolding—one rooted in expression, connection, and healing. Through programs like Brushes with Cancer, individuals impacted by cancer are invited to share their stories
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