Comfy Cozys
As she lay dying, 13-year-old Amanda
took her mother’s hand and made her
promise: Make something for children
to wear during chemo, something that
will help them keep their modesty.
Amanda was just 9 when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a condition that required two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy. At 12, she celebrated her final treatment with a “No More Chemo Party,” only to learn just three months later that she now had a cancerous mass in her brain. She re-entered the world of chemotherapy and radiation.
“Amanda never gave up hope,” says her mother, Phoenix resident Lorraine Tallman.
But eventually, when her cancer cells mutated and the bone marrow transplant for which her oldest sister was a perfect match became out of the question, hope faded. That’s when Amanda began to focus on her very special tie-dyed dream.
During her treatments, she hated her body being exposed to a room full of strangers – doctors, nurses, other children in similar situations. When she got better, she said, she was going to create a clothing line for kids going through chemo that would help them keep their “modesty and dignity.”
“Promise me you’re going to help every child. Are you listening with both ears?” she demanded as she held her mother’s hand. “No, Mom, I mean every child.”
“I will,” Tallman assured her.
Tallman had experience in product development and marketing. In 1989, she had developed single-wrap roses that sold well in grocery stores, but in 2009, she had folded the company to care for Amanda. Now she had a new challenge: to create a comfortable, attractive-to kids line of clothing that not only would help them maintain their modesty during chemo treatments but also actually make the process easier.
Tallman began her research. Online, she found a textile professor at the University of Philadelphia who had been working with women from India to teach them how to sew as a means of self-sufficiency. If they were interested in producing her clothing line, the benefit would go both ways. They were very interested. The women buy the material by the bolt and both tie dye the fabric and sew the T-shirts.
Amanda’s vision became reality in the form of brightly colored tie-dye shirts and dresses (tie-dye was Amanda’s favorite) made of 50-wash organic cotton. Soft. Washable. Each item with splits for blood and chemo lines so if a child falls asleep during treatment, the nurse doesn’t have to wake him or her up to change a line. And, best of all, from a kid’s point of view: Pretty darn cute.
Comfy Cozys feature barely visible zippers for chemo and blood lines.
ComfyCozy’s for Chemo, a name chosen by Amanda, was born.
These aren’t your ’60s tie-dye T-shirts, and they certainly don’t look “medical.” While zippers are strategically placed for chemo lines, these garments are fun! There are dresses with ruffles and shirts with bling. They can be customized in sports-team colors or with distinctive patterns. There are onesies for infants and hoodies for older kids, even Ts for adults.
SUPPORT FOR COMFYCOZY’S
In 2013, the nonprofit Amanda’s Hope Rainbow Angels was founded to provide ComfyCozy’s Care gifts to children at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and Cardon Children’s Medical Center in Mesa. Currently, the shirts are also given to children at Diamond Children’s at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson and Banner Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale. To date, the organization has given away almost 4,000 Comfy Cozys, making sure no family has to pay.
Local companies and organizations have stepped up to help Tallman make Comfy Cozys available. 5-hour Energy donated $50,000. Giving Hope, a worldwide foundation based in Scottsdale, paid for the material for the first 600 shirts. Dresses for Orphans, a local nonprofit organization, made the first 600 dresses for free.
“This town has big hearts,” Tallman says.
ComfyCozy’s now sponsors a week-long sports camp at a High Five Sports Clubs in Scottsdale, where children in treatment can attend with their siblings, whom they’ve often been separated from due to their fragility during treatments. The owner, Jeff Fox, has generously given them a reduced rate for the week.
More support is needed. Currently, Tallman is seeking corporate sponsorships to make sure even more children receive Comfy Cozys. With an order of 100 shirts, the design can be customized to include a company logo.
To purchase a Comfy Cozy, CLICK HERE.
DINNER AND DANCING FOR COZYS
This September 26, ComfyCozy’s for Chemo will host A Night Of Hope – White Out, a fundraiser featuring dinner and dancing at a private Paradise Valley residence, to promote childhood cancer awareness and provide Comfy Cozys to even more children.
