It’s not your typical portrait sitting.
There’s the dim fluorescence of hospital lights flooding the shot, the distracting hum of machines mixing with the click-click-click of the camera. And there’s not always the strength to manage a smile, even weakly. It’s best with the smile, a moment of sheer joy encapsulated in a poignant black and white photograph. But each of the images—nearly 40,000 in all—captures a different spirit, one often forgotten in the face of cancer: hope.
Flashes of Hope, a national nonprofit that provides free portraits to children with cancer, has caught them all: the tears, the pain, the introspection, the fear, the elation, but, above all else, hope. With 55 chapters across the country, Flashes of Hope is able to bring its services to more than half of the children diagnosed with cancer annually in the United States. And while the photographs can’t unlock a cure, they can help children with cancer realize their strength.
Photo by Joseph Moee.
Inspired by her now 15-year-old son Quinn’s own battle with cancer, Cleveland mom Allison Clarke founded Flashes of Hope in 2001. Clarke faced Quinn’s mortality and wanted to capture the moments he had left, whether many or few. She saw the potential to provide a forever keepsake to families fighting cancer with dignity.
“These kids exude hope,” says Barrie Dekker, Flashes of Hope Chicago chapter director. “It comes out of every pore of their body. Within the first 15 seconds (of a shoot), you don’t see the sickness; you see the child.”
“It isn’t about photographing sick children,” she says. “It’s about photographing children to help them feel good about their changing appearance, to help them realize they’re brave and beautiful.”
Photo by Chuck Eaton.
Flashes of Hope enlists its cadre of professional photographers to shoot at hospitals, summer oncology camps, holiday picnics and special events; Dekker estimates her Chicago chapter reaches 1,000 kids a year.
“We actually get to touch this mission in a very unique way,” she says. “We get to know the kids. It’s not a photo on a billboard of a bald child you don’t know. It’s Emily, or it’s Jason.”
Flashes of Hope strives to take cancer children out of the monotony of their stay in the hospital, working with children from infancy to adolescence to capture their journey in an empowering way. “What I have learned over the years is that it’s the teenagers that are so, so incredibly hard,” Dekker says. “These kids are so resilient—the younger kids especially. They’re likely not going to remember much (if any) of it. The teenagers get it. They understand what they’re missing in their regular day-to-day life. They understand and see the impact it has, the fear and the pain. They understand what it means to live and possibly not live.”
Photo by Agie Brooks.
In addition to its photography campaign, Flashes of Hope raises funds for pediatric cancer research. Flashes of Hope works with similar nonprofits to determine which research trials it funds, using data from other organization’s medical advisory boards to find the most promising projects. Less than 4 percent of the funding for cancer research currently goes to pediatric cancer research, and Dekker and Flashes of Hope aim to change that through innovative fundraisers.
The organization hosts its annual Kick-It event to raise research dollars, bringing kids together to compete in a rowdy kickball tournament and honor Quinn’s favorite sport. The event “allows kids to help kids,” says Dekker. The 350 middle school, junior high and high school students who came out for the 2014 event, held on June 16 at Highcrest Middle School in Wilmette, raised nearly $50,000, far exceeding last year’s modest $10,000. Since 2009, Kick-It events and other Flashes of Hope events have brought in $2.2 million dollars nationally, with 100 percent of the funds benefitting pediatric cancer research.
Flashes of Hope’s next big event, the Bag Lady Luncheon, will feature a live auction with new and gently used designer handbags, belts, scarves, vintage jewelry, sunglasses and wallets, as well as unique “fashionista” experiences. Dekker continues to look for items for auction, as well as individual or corporate sponsorships. To donate or to purchase a ticket for the event, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 12 at Skokie Country Club in Glencoe, contact Dekker at barrie@flashesofhope.org.
“We never want a family to have to hear the words, ‘There is no protocol,’” Dekker says. The organization is committed to photographing every child with cancer until every child is cured. For now, they’ll continue to produce gorgeous, professional portraits of hope and fund research trials to help make a world without childhood cancer a distinct possibility.
