Caring Collection

Website Links

Description

IN THE BASEMENT STUDIO OF ARTIST Bobbie Burnett's Annapolis home, an assembly line of sorts is in action. Volunteers are working with stained glass: drawing, foiling, cutting, grinding, and soldering. The result? Three-dimensional, stained-glass angels. For the last 26 years, Burnett and dedicated volunteers have been creating and selling these angels to raise money for cancer research and patient care. The proceeds have always been divided equally between the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and the Anne Arundel Medical Center's Geaton and JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute in Annapolis. Burnett crafted the first angel in 1983 for her friend Susie Lyttle, who was battling leukemia. During this rough time in Lyttle's life, Burnett wanted to help. While others were making meals and desserts for Lyttle's husband and three children, who were all under 10 years old, Burnett felt at a loss because, she admits, she's not the greatest cook. Art, though, was where she excelled. Burnett created a three-dimensional, stained-glass angel for Lyttle that stood 14 inches high and was aqua with translucent wings. Lyttle loved it and displayed the angel in her hospital room. Many people who came by admired Lyttle's angel, and Burnett got an idea. She enlisted the help of friends and taught them how to make angels much like the one she had made for her friend, but in various sizes. They began making and selling them, with all the proceeds going to help pay Lyttle's medical bills. "I have about a dozen volunteers who worked in 1983 on the first angels, and they still come," says Burnett. One woman who lives in another state visits the studio for a couple of days each month to make angels. They keep coming, Burnett believes, because "it's the feeling that they're really making a difference and helping other people. And they've become a family." In December 1983, Susie Lyttle passed away. But Burnett and her friends kept making angels. Today, the Caring Collection boasts over 90 volunteers who range in age from 12 to 90. Because they work in Burnett's basement, the organization doesn't pay rent, and no one who works for the group - even Burnett - gets paid. "That is one thing that will never change." "We give 100 percent of the money we make, above and beyond what our materials cost," says Burnett. And she's determined not to compromise her principles regarding the complete donation of profits. Years ago, QVC came calling and wanted to sell the angels on television. But Burnett refused because they would have had to sell the angels at a higher price so that the shopping channel would make money from it. Countless stores have asked to sell the angels, as well; again, she has refused because she and the volunteers don't want others making a profit. "We're still not willing to do that," says Burnett. Every year, Burnett designs a new angel. Although the designs and colors change over the years, their wings are always translucent white. That way, Burnett explains, when people display them, there is one element that ties the collection together. Last year's angel was called Hope and came in white, blue, or burgundy. It sold for $85.

Products & services

Similar companies nearby