By Kristina Gawrgy
Gazette Staff Writer
Thursday, November 1, 2007

Many Montgomery County residents, either individually or as part of organizations, reach out to help others and raise money for various causes. Here are two stories of people helping people.

As a 7-year-old diagnosed with a severe form of leukemia, Naomi Bartley found support and love from her family and inspiration from letters sent by friends.

She kept those letters in a box she called a hope chest. Twenty years later, after a bone marrow transplant that saved her life, Bartley is using hope chests as a theme for a gala to raise awareness and money for cancer research for children.

Bartley, a Wheaton resident and medical researcher, has organized the Naomi's Hope for a Cure fundraiser. The Nov. 16 gala at the National Building Museum in the District will include a live auction of 15 wooden hope chests signed and painted by celebrities and politicians, including former president George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara; U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.); and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

"You keep all those memories, pictures and things you keep near and dear to you in the chest," Bartley said. The chest "symbolizes the hope of finding a true cure for kids with cancer, and hopefully it will personally mean something to [the people who purchase] them."

The hope chest signed by Bush was created by Oklahoma artist Denise Duong. Adorned with a painted American flag, the chest has part of the former president's inaugural speech and photos of him in World War II, as president and of his recent skydiving adventure. There is also a painting of a robin in memory of the Bushes' daughter Robin, who lost her battle with childhood cancer at age 3.

The proceeds will benefit Candlelighters Childhood Cancer foundation, a Kensington-based nonprofit led by Ruth Hoffman, Bartley's mother, and created in 1970 for childhood cancer victims and their families.

Hoffman was able to get the politicians involved through C-Change, an organization made up of leaders in government, business and nonprofits. The group promotes early detection for cancer and the eventual cure for the disease. The organization is co-chaired by Barbara and George H.W. Bush, and Feinstein is vice chairman.

Bartley was inspired to organize the auction by her own battles with cancer as a child in London, Ontario, and again when she was 24. Her second bout was a direct result of the chemotherapy and full-body radiation she received as a child, she said.

The "treatment [method] they were using for kids with cancer hasn't developed since I was there," she said. "So many research dollars are going to adults over kids."

Bartley enlisted the help of Alexandra Nechita, the first artist for the project, at a Rockville art exhibition. Once Nechita agreed to paint and sign a hope chest, it was easy to find support from other U.S. and Canadian artists and large corporate sponsors, Bartley said.

Tina Duong, a former co-worker of Bartley and the sister of artist Denise Duong, said she was inspired by Bartley's passion to organize the gala and impressed by Bartley's ability to lift other people's spirits.

"Her passion for this cause moves people," Duong said.

Tickets to the Hope for Cure gala are $250 per person. For more information, go tohttp://www.Hope4aCure.net.