To learn; to live; to love . . . Each is a God-given process crucial to our growth as human beings. Each is crucial not only to our universal happiness but also to our courage and eagerness to venture into another day. For many, however, cancer threatens these natural projections that sustain and enrich us, either because they become physically and/or emotionally limited or financially burdened. In October of 2005, Pam Ahl, Rosie Lonborg and Amy Webber of Scituate established the Learn, Live, Love Cancer Outreach Organization (LLL) to help lessen these limitations and burdens on women and their families in local communities.

The mission of LLL is to raise money to provide financial assistance to local women hit with the devastation of cancer. The organization also provides those in need with resources, information, networking options and personal support. Pam, Rosie and Amy share a philosophy: “Shared knowledge is power and shared experience is healing.” They strive to empower cancer patients so that the disease does not define their lives.

Pam says, “We believe that if a woman’s mind is at ease and her heart is at rest, then she can find the inner peace she so desperately needs for her body to heal.”

The Women of LLL and its Inception:

Pam Ahl is a Co-founder/Director of LLL. A Scituate resident, she is the Assistant for Pastoral Care at St. Mary of the Nativity Church. Pam is a certified teacher of English and a freelance artist with a studio in Scituate. She is married to Chuck Ahl and together they have two teenage children. Also, Pam is a breast cancer survivor.

Rosemary Lonborg is a Co-founder/Director of LLL. She has volunteered at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in the Jimmy Fund Clinic as a Child Life Specialist for nearly 21 years.  Rosie also brings her experience as a Child Life Specialist into children’s homes as a member of Cranberry Hospice. She is on the board of directors for Survivors of Unexpected Loss in Scituate and Bay State Community Services, which is a nonprofit mental health and drug addiction facility. Rosie is the Director of Religious Education for grade K through 5 at St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Scituate. Rosie is married to Dr. Jim Lonborg, a 15 year veteran of Major League Baseball.  She has 3 sons, 3 daughters and 2 grandchildren. 

Amy Webber is LLL’s Business Manager. She is also the accountant and cemetery supervisor for St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Scituate. With Rosie, she is on the board of directors for Survivors of Unexpected Loss. Amy was married to Paul Webber, who died of cancer in 2004. She has two children, two grandchildren, and is engaged to be married to John Ferrie.

The Learn, Live, Love Cancer Outreach Organization was born of a conversation between Pam and Rosie in 2005 while Rosie was driving Pam home from a radiation treatment. They discussed together what they could do to turn such a negative experience into a positive one.

“I remember being overwhelmed not only by my diagnosis,” Pam says, “but by the outpouring of love, support and encouragement from friends, neighbors and members of the beautiful Scituate community. Rosie and I were reflecting one day on the ride home from one of my treatments how so many women journey through their illness alone and unaided. It just didn’t seem fair. We wanted to do something that would make a difference for them.”

Rosie also remembers her thoughts: “Having worked for so many years within the Jimmy Fund Clinic at the Dana Farber Institute allowed me to witness first hand how financial hardship can devastate families with cancer patients. We all know of large research and development organizations . . . but we wanted to offer something different, something personal, something immediate.”

The premise was born.

Since then, LLL has raised $170,000, benefiting cancer patients in the form of transportation to cancer treatments, payments of medical bills, groceries, informational resources, and so much more.

Amy says, “It’s an honor and a privilege to – even in a small way – make a difference by paying a bill. Ultimately, it’s not about the money; it’s about one person helping another. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Recently, a 47-year-old mother, who also battles stage-four cancer, wished to undergo an experimental treatment so she might spend one more Christmas with her husband and two sons. Though the treatment was experimental and therefore not costly, this courageous woman, who humbly tried to decline help from LLL, needed to pay an outstanding insurance bill of $1500 just to go to the hospital where the treatment would be administered. She finally accepted help from LLL and was able to undergo the experimental treatment. She will still die, but she was given the gift of just a bit more time, time to spend with her family on Christmas Day.

Adrian Morris of Lemon/Lime Aveda Salon

We are able to thank Adrian Morris of Lemon/Lime Aveda Salon in Cohasset for $90,000 of the $170,000 raised for LLL. Adrian lost his dear friend, Karen Petrillo, to breast cancer. In a loving effort to commemorate his friend, Adrian holds an annual fund raiser at the River Club and, before the first event four years ago, chose the Learn, Live, Love Cancer Outreach Organization as the recipients of the proceeds.

On March 14, 2009, the fifth annual Karen Petrillo Breast Cancer Event hosted by Adrian Morris of Lemon/Lime Aveda Salon and to benefit the Learn, Live, Love Cancer Outreach Organization will raise the roof at – once again – the River Club at 78 Border Street in Scituate. It will be an evening of delectable fare, cocktails, dancing, and high-end live and silent auctions that truly rouse excitement in a crowd. All are welcome!

A Special Thank You to Mark Tocci of Pastene

In 2009, Mark Tocci will celebrate the 135^th year of the family run business, Pastene. To commemorate this occasion, he is donating 50% of all of his olive oil sales this year to the Learn, Live, Love Cancer Outreach Organization.