The American Cancer Society recognized the valuable contributions made by longtime Society friend and contributor Bee Tabakin and Peg Allen, 20-year Look Good … Feel Better volunteer, at a party on Friday, January 22 celebrating the 2nd birthday of the Burlington Hope Lodge, Lois McClure – Bee Tabakin Building.
The prestigious American Cancer Society St. George National Award was presented to Bee Tabakin in recognition of her relentless support of the Society's mission to help create a world with less cancer and more birthdays.
“Bee Tabakin is an extraordinary volunteer who has been a member of the American Cancer Society family since 1983,” said Dr. Les Lockridge, member of the New England Board of Directors. “With her innate ability to inspire others, she was a driving force in the New England Division's campaign to build the new Hope Lodge facility in Burlington, which now bears her name.”
Because of Tabakin's personal experience with cancer, she has courageously worked to improve the lives of other cancer patients with a commitment that inspires all those who know her. Tabakin became a Reach to Recovery volunteer in 1983 and a Road to Recovery driver in 2004.
“Peg Allen has, for twenty years, been indispensible to Vermont’s Look Good…Feel Better program,” said Dick Branda, Interim Director of the Vermont Cancer Center and former Medical Director of the American Cancer Society Board of Directors, “which helps patients deal with the appearance-related effects of their cancer treatment.”
Allen, presented with the award for her 20-year volunteer service to the Society, brought Look Good…Feel Better to Vermont in 1989 and has successfully expanded the program so that women across the state have access to the type of support that can make a significant dif