Breast cancer diagnosis inspires Meadows teacher to start gift bag charity

Jessica Gaylor always exercised and read food labels to stay away from unpronounceable chemical additives. So it was disconcerting when she discovered a lump in her right breast in 2011.

Gaylor, a Henderson resident and a theater instructor and Center for the Arts coordinator at The Meadows School, 8601 Scholar Lane, was one month shy of her 36th birthday. Her doctor ran tests, and she got her diagnosis — breast cancer.

“But I had a very positive outlook from the beginning,” Gaylor said. “I didn’t think, ‘Why me?’ because, as an educator and a mentor for kids, it made sense that it happened to me, that I had the opportunity to teach through my experience.”

While at the Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada for treatments, Gaylor couldn’t help noticing that the snacks offered to patients were unhealthy. So she brought fruit and good-for-you snacks and included extras for others. It proved to be an icebreaker.

“Something really beautiful happened,” she said. “We talked about what we’re going through … it was a way to open the door.”

Gaylor began a nonprofit organization, Promise PACC (Providing Additional Cancer Care). It creates care packages for those undergoing treatment at CCCN. She delivers as many as 250 gift bags about once a month for staff members to hand out. She also bought Kindles for CCCN to have on hand.

The group delivers primarily to the Henderson CCCN at 10001 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 108, but has also delivered to the locations at 7445 Peak Drive (northwest) and 3730 S. Eastern Ave. (southeast). Bags are also hand-delivered via word of mouth and support groups when Gaylor hears about someone who is going through treatment.

The packs are simple gift bags printed with the Promise PACC logo and filled with various items donated by businesses or bought with donations. They might include a pair of earbuds, a water bottle, a pill box, mints, a protein bar, socks, a sleep mask, nuts and dried fruit. It takes $5 to $8 to fill each gift bag.

Gaylor and about 10 students from The Meadows School regularly pack the gift bags and deliver them. Gaylor said she’d like to increase that number to 30 students. This past summer, she was part of a medical convention and sent out 500 Promise PACC bags.

“A cornerstone of a Meadows School education is that with great educational opportunity comes great responsibility to one’s community,” said Jeremy Gregersen, head of school at The Meadows School. “Mrs. Gaylor is doing great work in demonstrating to her students the importance of real service to one’s fellow man. Moreover, she and her students are helping to raise the spirits of those in greatest need.”

Caitlin Parker, public relations coordinator for The Meadows School, said that hearing how Gaylor went out of her way to help other women was “inspiring, especially knowing that Jess was so young with everything she went through. It makes me want to be more diligent, and it’s inspiring to see the effect she has on young students, both boys and girls. It’s really great to see the kids get involved.”

Gaylor’s path to wellness included a lumpectomy, nearly eight weeks of radiation and taking Tamoxifen, a breast cancer drug, for two years. The entire time, she kept working.

In mid-October, Gaylor and her students crafted blankets at The Meadows School for Promise PACC bags going to breast cancer patients at CCCN.

“In the next three years, I’d like to expand to involve more survivors so that we really make that connection between survivors and those undergoing treatment,” Gaylor said. “I want it to be more than just products in a bag.”

These days, Gaylor enjoys spending time with her husband Gary, to whom she donated a kidney in 2006. They have a 6-year-old son, Cooper.

For more information, visit facebook.com/promisepacc.

Contact Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.