Oregon School of Massage in the Community – with Gayle MacDonald

Sherie Hildreth Ovarian Cancer Foundation Empowerment Run/Walk

By Gayle MacDonald, OSM Cancer Massage Instructor

My massage chair has been sitting in storage for years. Recently, I thought of selling it. But, after volunteering to give massage last Saturday, Aug 7th, at the Sherie Hildreth Ovarian Cancer 6th annual Empowerment Day run/walk, I’ve changed my mind. I am keeping my chair.

Sherie Hildreth, the inspiration for the Empowerment Run/Walk, lived with cancer for six years, and lived well with it. She was an inspiration to many, including me. Not only did Sherie and her husband Bruce start the SHOC foundation to fund research on ovarian cancer, she was an elementary school teacher who kept right on teaching, a mother who kept on parenting and a friend to many who kept on supporting.

OSM Participants

On Saturday at the event, myself and five others — Annette Lovett and Wendy McKee, who are both finishing their core program at Oregon School of Massage, as well as three others who have taken Massage for People Living with Cancer at OSM, Joan Pinkert, Pam Wingert and Tracey Clarke, provided table and chair massage to survivors, athletes and caregivers.

The starting line was in the parking lot of the Harley-Davidson parking lot in Gladstone. It was a lively event, to say the least! All around us, as we were giving massage, was music, drummers, and people talking over the PA system. It was far from peaceful or quiet, and yet, despite all of the motion and commotion, massage recipients did what they always do, sink down inside themselves. The experience was as rewarding for us as it was for the recipients and participants!

The six of us already have the 2011 date down in our calendars — the first Saturday of August — that’s how much we enjoyed it. And my massage chair, well, it will keep just fine.

Follow-up

For additional information about the Sherie Hildreth Ovarian Cancer (SHOC) Foundations see: shocfoundation.org

For information about Gayle MacDonald’s class, “Massage for People Living with Cancer,” see Class Descriptions in this website.