Volunteer of the Month December 2024

Meet our December volunteer of the month Valerie Exar!

"My name is Valerie, and I'm a former editor and a SAHM of 2 awesome adult children and a wild and sweet terrier. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, and one of the best parts is finding gifts for everyone's stocking. I read about CFK through IG posts and liked that the organization offered a creative, fun way to bring some happiness to kids coping with cancer and undergoing treatment. Years ago, my daughter's Girl Scout troop did a similar project, making puppet and craft kits for our local children's cancer center, so I was familiar with the process. Shopping for the current CFK stocking project fit in perfectly with my annual happy hunts for stocking stuffers! Also, designing the cards has proven to be a wonderful creative outlet; I find it relaxing but also enjoy using my imagination in a way I don't often get to in my day-to-day life. One of my favorite hobbies is cooking and baking, especially this time of year, and enjoy giving holiday treats to friends and neighbors. My recipe for lasagna was published in the Baltimore Sun some years back!

My biggest point of pride is that I was an editor on the AHCPR's 1994 Guidelines for the Management of Cancer Pain (and was listed as such in the publication)."

We hope you all enjoyed getting to learn a little bit about Valerie and her work for Create for Kids. We are so grateful to have her as a volunteer!