Doing all she can

Deirdre Egan Healy lost her mother to cancer five years ago.

“It was very hard for me,” said the 30-year-old Costa Mesa graphic

designer.

It was even harder for Healy to imagine what little children with

parents struggling with the disease must be going through.

“I dealt with my mom’s cancer as an adult,” she said. “But I was

fortunate to have been raised by my mom.”

However, there are many children who lose their parents to the

disease.

Healy became determined to help out these children and she found

the perfect way with Kids Konnected. The organization was formed in

1993 by 11-year-old Jon Wagner-Holtz after his mother was treated for

breast cancer.

Jon also created a hotline where children could talk about their

situations.

“Jon wanted to talk to other kids about what it was to deal with

something like that,” Healy. “I knew exactly how that felt, and

wanted to help out.”

She helps the organization with most of its graphic design work,

including press releases, fliers, posters and business cards.

Healy has volunteered her design services for three years now.

This year she will receive the organization’s Adult Volunteer Award

during its annual fund-raiser.

“It’s really an honor to receive this award,” she said. “I’ve

never been honored like this before.”

But the most satisfying part of her work has been the fact that

she is contributing to a cause that is, and will always remain, close

to her heart.

Healy considered volunteering to talk to children, but she said it

was too early for that.

“It would be too emotional and I didn’t know if I was ready for

that,” she said.

But that may change in the future, Healy said.

“It’s been so rewarding for me,” she said. “I can’t imagine why

I’d stop being involved.”

-- by Deepa Bharath