Hadassah Spring Craft and Gift Fair

to benefit cancer research

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

BROOKLINE - This Sunday, April 7, you can shop for crafts, indulge in baked goods, get your eyes checked and occupy the kids while helping Hadassah raise funds for a worthy women’s cause.

The Hadassah Spring Craft and Gift Fair, to benefit breast and ovarian cancer research, will occur between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Devotion School in Coolidge Corner. “One of our focus topics this year was to be ‘the arts’,” says Sara Coen, a member of Hadassah’s Ruach chapter (its youngest group, for 20s and early 30s). “After September 11, the group was looking for a way to do something meaningful, so we decided to combine the arts with a fundraiser for a cause that is somewhat specific to Jewish women. Even though people traditionally think of breast and ovarian cancer as affecting older women, Jewish women with a genetic link often experience these diseases as early as in their 20s and 30s.

“The money raised,” she explains, “will go to a research program at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem and to ‘Check It Out’.”

Check it Out, a Hadassah program which has educated over 400,000 girls in over 750 high schools on breast self-examination, is the only national program of its kind. Hadassah, based in New York, runs this effort in various U.S. cities, encouraging girls to take care of themselves and to pass the information on to their mothers, sisters, aunts, and friends. Hadassah leaders also form coalitions with local hospitals for access to medical personnel.

“This fair is unique,” Coen remarks, “in the sense that the youngest Hadassah chapter is organizing a fundraiser for illnesses which traditionally affect older women.” However, many of the women involved in the fair have a family history of breast and ovarian cancer. Her involvement, she says, came naturally.

“I chair the craft fair event because I am a crafter myself (I make handmade cards and invitations), and also because of my own connection: my mother has battled breast cancer for the past seven years. We have 24 crafters and vendors signed up for the fair, some whom have links as well.

“Karin Sprecher,” she notes, “a Newton painter who, despite having MS, specializes in silk Judaica, lost her mother to breast cancer when she was only two years old. Ironically, the Hebrew calendar anniversary of her mother's death falls on the eve of the fair. And Karen Seeche, a sponsor of the Wellness Community booth, was recently treated for ovarian cancer. Both of these women are in Hadassah’s Tikva chapter, helping to link the generations.

“A participating couple from Brookline,” she adds, “Kurt Kuss and Barbara Ceconi, are blind, but in spite of their disability, they make the most beautiful fine jewelry and pottery.

“In addition,” she says, “a childhood friend of my mother's is sending over 70 handmade items, and Cherie Gamzu, daughter-in-law of Hadassah member and ‘Check it Out’ activist Zelda Gamzu, is flying in from Michigan.”

The vast, eclectic array of crafts and gifts will include photography, jewelry, quilts, pens, table fountains, perfume bottles, cards and stationery, pottery, Navajo woven rugs and wall hangings, children's and baby gifts, handpainted silk Judaica, photo albums and journals, lusterware porcelain, Israeli beauty products, Tupperware, scarves, cold-enamel cases, unique children's books, men's ties, table linens and mobiles.

There will be raffles as well. “All crafters and vendors are donating items,” says Coen. “In addition, donors from Brookline include Bread & Circus, The Paper Source, Zaftig's, The Clay Room, Brookline Booksmith, Zathmary's, A Children's Story, The Studio, Contemporary Arts Gallery, Rosaline's Spa, J.P. Licks, Israel Book Shop, Stone's Throw Gallery, Wild Goose Chase and Party Favors. Chestnut Hill donors include Aquitane Bis, Queen of Sheba and Snip-its. Other donors include WGBH, Green Planet, Azur, The Paper Parlor, Leather World, New Repertory Theater, Christine's Day Spa, Moto Photo, Indulge, Turtle Lane Playhouse, Scribble It and Dr. Detail.”

As mentioned, the fair will also feature a bake sale, free eye screenings from New England Medical Center and an onsite craft project for kids.

With over 5000 members, Hadassah of Greater Boston is one of its largest chapters; the Ruach group was revived last summer by member Leslie Gonzales.

For further information, please contact Sara Coen at 617-558-3695 or at SaraCoen3@aol.com.