No. 17 Vol. 10
www.mypaperonline.com
October 2019
Wayne’s Dayna’s Pink Wishes Foundation Brings the Magic of the Holiday Season to Families Struggling with Cancer
P
By Dawn M Chiossi ink is the color of femininity. It brings to mind rosy cheeks, flowers, springtime. It is the color that brightens up a winter-weary complexion. Pink makes people feel youthful and even sweet. As every breast cancer survivor knows, pink is also the color of strength. In the case of Wayne’s Dayna Pink Wishes Foundation, it is also the color that represents caring and compassion. Founded 16 years ago, Dayna’s Pink Wishes Foundation is a non-profit organization that brings the magic of the holiday season and throughout the year to children with families struggling with a cancer diagnosis. They provide toys to children that have lost a parent to cancer, or for families who are suffering financial hardship as a result of this illness. To date Dana’s Pink Wishes Foundation has granted holiday wishes to thousands of children. Dayna’s Pink Wishes Foundation is the inspiration of Wayne Breast Cancer Survivor, Dayna Bottazzi Varano. After a long and arduous journey, the foundation became both this Wayne mom’s passion and purpose. Affectionately named after Varano by a good friend, Dayna’s Pink Wishes Foundation symbolizes both the strength and sisterhood of breast cancer survivors and the generosity of Varano herself. 2007 should have been a banner year for this busy and dynamic mom who had just given birth to her second child, but Varano’s life was forever changed when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. She was 39 years old. Doctors told her that her condition was so severe that
her treatment required a double mastectomy, aggressive rounds of chemotherapy, followed by radiation. Unfortunately, as it often happens in cases like this, Varano also endured an infection called C-diff. The condition caused her to have a two-week hospital stay. As terrible as all of this was, for Varano, it was even worse to see her family’s anguish. Being part of a close-knit family, as a mom, a wife, a daughter, it was the thought of them, that got her through her multiple treatments. “I am born and raised a Jersey girl,” quips Varano. “I
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grew up in Essex County, but have lived in Wayne for almost 20 years now. I ran my own business in the legal industry for about a decade. When I had my first child, I decided to stop working and focus on raising my family.” The idea of her family enduring without her was too much to bear. Through her multiple treatments, Varano distracted herself by fundraising. She considers Dayna’s Pink Wishes similar to Toys for Tots, an organization that she had been involved with for several years. “When I was 35, one of my friends wanted to throw continued on page 12
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