Origami crane artwork offering heartfelt wishes of hope for cancer patients is now on display at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital’s Cancer Survivorship Center, thanks to a gift made by Fresenius Kabi’s Asian American Pacific Islanders Employee Impact Group.
Known as the “bird of happiness” in Japanese culture, cranes are thought to represent hope, healing and love, aligning with the Cancer Survivorship Center’s focus to provide comprehensive, holistic support for patients, family members and caregivers throughout their care.
“As a health care company our purpose is to develop medicines and technologies that serve patients,” said Saleem Farooqui, Executive Vice President at Fresenius Kabi and co-executive sponsor of the company’s AAPI EIG. “At the same time, we are all patients or caregivers ourselves and we know that inspiration and hope are sometimes needed for a patient’s journey. We want these beautiful cranes to play a role in inspiring and providing hope for those patients.”
What was originally meant to be a fun, team-building project to bring employees together to create a Senbazuru, which translates to “1,000 cranes” in Japanese, turned into a powerful act of service.
"From the very nature of using meditative focus to intricately make each fold on colorful patterned paper, to turning the collection of cranes into beautifully curated artwork for the cancer center has been inspiring for all involved," said Elizabeth Eyas, Senior Project Manager, who co-led the project with Pearle Torralba, Senior Director, both Fresenius Kabi employees.
“All of our lives have been touched by cancer. Through our line of work, we provide the medication necessary to help patients undergoing treatment. And as a team, we wanted to take that commitment a step further by offering this gift of hope, healing and heartfelt wishes to patients, survivors and caregivers,” said Eyas.
The origami cranes have been curated into pieces of heart-shaped artwork that welcome all who visit the Cancer Survivorship Center.
“This was truly a team effort by our employees and their families. It’s been amazing to see everyone’s energy and intention focused on this beautiful project,” said Eyas. “Our gift was made by many hands, giving hope and wishes of good health to others.”
In addition to the artwork, Fresenius Kabi donated $25,000 toward supporting programming at the Center. More than 70 in-person and online classes are offered a month, including yoga, nutrition, reflexology and counseling.
How you can help
The Cancer Survivorship Center at Advocate Lutheran General is the first stand-alone, hospital-affiliated survivorship center in Illinois, providing comprehensive, holistic support for patients, family members and caregivers throughout their care. The center is supported by the generosity of donors. To help survivors during and after cancer treatment, please make a gift today.