Photo of Joan Yarmovsky, Pamela Bennett and Dee Dee Pike:

http://www.hatsofhope.com/aboutus.html

Hats of Hope Brings Inspiration

And Cheer to Those in Need of Support

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

LEXINGTON - In the face of personal challenge, there is often no better therapy than the caring support of others, be they individuals or groups. Joan Yarmovsky, Dee Dee Pike and Wendy Friedman's unusually altruistic venture goes to the hat of the matter, so to speak.

Since 1999, they have manufactured “hats of hope” baseball caps, embroidered with messages of support, inspiration and encouragement. The company began as the brainchild of the three women, each coming from a different arena but familiar with the struggles people go through as they face illness.

“When we began, we were three women with different backgrounds,” says Yarmovsky. (Pike, a psychologist, was working with people who had chronic illness, Yarmovsky was an educator, and Friedman an MBA working in the non-profit/healthcare area.) “Although we came from varied places, we've all been moved by being part of people's struggles.”

The women, who had friends in treatment for cancer, began distributing their product to hospital gift shops and nurses, who handed them out free to chemotherapy patients. Not surprisingly, they caught on; 10,000 were sold in the first two years alone.

The 100 percent cotton hats are purposefully, yet whimsically designed. Under the brim is the word “hope,” which is viewable at all times by the wearer. Varied phrases line the insides. For “Hair Loss”, the messages are: “Making way for new growth,” “I'd rather my hair than my mind,” “What I lose in hair will be replaced in wisdom,” and "I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch" (Gilda Radner). The “Inspirational” group includes "The only courage that matters is the one that gets you from one moment to the next" (Mignon McLaughlin), "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet" (Helen Keller), “Sigh. Sob. Scream. Laugh. Repeat,” "Do the thing you think you cannot do" (Eleanor Roosevelt). For “You Can Do It,” the messages are: “A river flows around stones and finds its own way,” “Crazy times call for crazy actions,” “Whatever it takes,” and “I can get there from here.”

The fourth series features folksinger Debbie Friedman and Rabbi Drorah Setel’s reworking of the Jewish prayer for the sick, Mi Shebeirach: “Mi Shebeirach imoteinu, m’kor habracha l’avoteinu. Bless those in need of healing with r’fua sh’leima, The renewal of body, The renewal of spirit, And let us say, Amen.” After Sept. 11, they sent 100 to NYC firefighters. A rescue worker called them his “most enduring memory.”

They recently attended the Oncology Nursing Society Meeting in D.C. “Novartis Pharmaceuticals gave out 7000 of our hats to nurses,” says Yarmovsky. “Each had special messages acknowledging their care and heart.

“A Jewish chaplain at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas decided to give our Mi Shebeirach hats out to Jewish patients receiving treatment for cancer. We have also had several Rabbis purchase the hats with their discretionary funds to give to people in the congregation who are in need of healing. Wear Hope...Give Hope continues.”

They will be attending the CAJE (Conference on Alternatices in Jewish Education) conference in San Antonio in August, she reports, “introducing our hats to educators from all over the country. We are hoping they will use the hats for Mitzvah Projects.”

The hats carry financial support as well. A portion of their proceeds go to the American Cancer Society, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, and the American Pain Foundation. The Mi Shebeirach hats help Hadassah and Chai Lifeline, and since Sept. 11, half of the selling price of the $20 red, white and blue hats has gone to the American Red Cross. Hats of Hope are available at www.hatsofhope.com, or in hospital gift shops nationwide. They are offered for $10 to any groups such as synagogues, schools or community organizations who wish to use the hats in social action projects.