The members of Team Rich are, from left, Ryan, Jeanne and Ricky Atkinson. They have formed nonprofit corporation, Team Rich, in honor of husband and father Rich Atkinson.
Ryan Atkinson needed to perform community service hours as part of his confirmation process at St. Patrick’s Church in Hubbard, and his mother, Jeanne, suggested that they make chemo care bags.
The family was well aware of chemo care bags because Ryan’s dad, Rich, was going through his second battle with cancer.
“Last summer, we were at a chemo treatment and one of the nurses at UPMC in Farrell came out with one of these chemo care bags,” said Jeanne Atkinson, of Hartford. “We had gotten them over the years, but this one, we were having kind of a rough day. She just brought this out and it kind of hit us both, like, something so little made such a difference.”
The family, with help from Ryan’s CCD class at the church and community donations, made 100 care bags and donated them to UPMC. They contained water, snacks, coloring books, notebooks, blankets, hand sanitizer and other items.
“When we were done with that original project, Rich said, ‘I think we need to do this, keep doing this. We need to come up with our own nonprofit,’” Jeanne Atkinson said.
Although the process of forming the nonprofit started with Rich, he did not live to see it come to fruition. He died May 6.
But, Team Rich, as the nonprofit is called, carries on.
“This was Rich’s baby to start,” Jeanne Atkinson said. “It’s just become this is what we’re gonna use as his legacy, for him to live on.”
The name Team Rich goes back to a 2017 fundraiser to offset the expenses from Rich’s first battle with cancer held by friends at Victor Printing in Sharon, where Rich and Jeanne both worked and met in 1997. A slogan used for the event, “Where hope grows, miracles blossom,” continues.
On Aug. 1, the family held a fundraiser, complete with chicken poop bingo, on the grounds of their home. Despite a rainy day for the outdoor event, it was successful, family members said.
In addition to making chemo care bags, Team Rich will provide gas cards to patients to help them cover the costs of getting to treatment, and will issue $1,000 scholarships to three graduating seniors, one each from Brookfield, which Ryan and older brother Ricky attend; Sharon, where Rich went; and Kennedy Catholic, Jeanne’s alma mater.
“This year, it’s very crucial that we do the scholarships, because Ricky graduates this year,” Jeanne said. “We want to make sure we give one to someone from his class.”
To win a Team Rich scholarship, recipients will need to write essays about how cancer has affected them.
The Team Rich activities have helped the family heal from their husband and father’s death, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic has limited contact with family and friends, and no more than 10 people could attend his funeral.
“Other people are so involved in their own lives that we needed something to keep us occupied,” Jeanne Atkinson said. “Doing this has definitely helped a lot.”
Team Rich has a Facebook page, and Ricky is working on building a website. While the family plans to hold a big fundraiser once a year, Team Rich face masks are on sale and donations can be made at any time at the Community Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio, which is based in Sharon.
