Chapter 03: Details about the Children’s Christmas Card Project
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Description
Mrs. Harrison begins this segment talking about several volunteers who worked on the Children’s Christmas Card Project. She then describes how the cards were selected: artwork up for consideration was presented at an event where volunteers could vote for the designs to be turned into cards. She describes one of her favorite cards and then notes that the five-year plan included an initiative to offer cards for the Jewish community. She goes on to explain that the Art Department turned selected designs into production-ready images and the Project then took bids for producing the cards. All this work first took place in a single room on the first floor of Volunteer Services, she explains, then moved to a larger room as the Project grew. She notes that there is a Karen Harrison Award given to a volunteer each year at the Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon.
Identifier
HarrisonK_01_20130528_C03
Publication Date
5-28-2012
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Topics Covered
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center - An Institutional Unit; The Philanthropist/Volunteer; Portraits; Giving Recognition; Building/Transforming the Institution; MD Anderson History; Volunteers and Volunteering; Institutional Mission and Values
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Transcript
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
When Ms. Lawson first handed you the Christmas Card Project, what did you envision as the possibilities for it in the early ‘70s? What were you thinking? “Oh yeah, this is what we’ll be able to do with this.”
Karen Harrison:
I just really thought of things that could happen. I couldn’t have imagined the things that did happen. I really didn’t. But the five-year plan, that was a good assignment.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Sure. Well, in the course of five years—one, two, three, four, five—it went from $588 to almost $60,000 of revenue. I mean, that’s just staggering, really.
Karen Harrison:
Well, that again was the generosity of the people. It’s the only thing I can tell you.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Generosity, certainly, but also an awful lot of work for volunteers. What were all the tasks that had to be completed in order to make that happen?
Karen Harrison:
We have one volunteer that has given three days a week, three full days a week, for the last—I don’t know—twenty-five, thirty years. His name is Rock Rabinowitz. Rock was a classmate of my husband’s, and he was retiring, and he had to handle cards in his grocery store that was downtown, down by City Hall and stuff. But then when I asked him if he might do some volunteering, and for him to come and give us full days a week, it just blows your mind. And he still volunteers. Geri Davis was a volunteer. Her husband was a computer expert, and he got us doing computer-type things. That helped. And Carolyn Hamrick was a several-days-a-week volunteer. The night volunteers—Gerry Berard I mention because he’s the one that went with me to Points of Light, and the president gave us that award.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
And that was—? Let’s see. I’m trying to get the name of that award.
Karen Harrison:
The Points of Light.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Points of Light Award. And that was in—? Was it 1994? The President’s Volunteer Action Award? Was that it?
Karen Harrison:
Yes.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Yeah, in 1994. Yeah—which is pretty amazing.
Karen Harrison:
We had been nominated under one president, and we got the award the next year. It changed its name, but when we were applying it was Points of Light and then whatever they named it.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
That’s neat. I wanted to get more of a sense of how the Christmas Card Project worked. How were the designs for the cards selected?
Karen Harrison:
We thought no one could make that judgment any better than the volunteers, and we had events and showed the cards and let everybody vote on them.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
And what were the events?
Karen Harrison:
As I said, we were in the president’s home in Austin. We had a kickoff party here at Anderson, actually the Medical Center. We had a parade through the Medical Center, and we had cheerleaders, we had sister—I can’t think of her name—well, anyway, from the Catholic Church. A sister was in the volunteering of it, and she was a cheerleader in our pep rally setting off the event. I’m sure I can think of her name later.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
And so there were—like, all the kids’ designs were shown and then people voted on them?
Karen Harrison:
Yes.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
And how did they cast their votes?
Karen Harrison:
A ballot.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Just a ballot?
Karen Harrison:
A marked paper ballot. They marked it, and they still do that today at the Volunteer Appreciation Party, usually at the Junior League. Because my vision is so poor, I’m saddened that I can’t really vote very well.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
In the art classes, the kids must produce a whole lot of designs. Do you show all of them, or is there kind of a first cut?
Karen Harrison:
I think there is a cut. Angela Cheves, who is the production director, is an artist herself. She has a degree in art from the University of Texas, and I have several of her pieces of art here in my house. I had known her parents before she was born. When she graduated, I thought, “I’m going to see if I can get Angela to help us.” And she helped. I don’t even know what they called her at that point, but she helped. She wasn’t like the art teacher, but she was, in making the judgments and stuff, the first review and which ones would we put out and that sort of thing.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
What are some of the designs that you remember that were just really great?
Karen Harrison:
There was one, a sort of stick figure. I’ve got pictures of them I can bring down if you want to see. But this was a blue card with just black on it and stick figures and so forth, and it’s called Our Neighborhood. And one of the volunteers’ children, who was not a patient but was a volunteer, contributed this, and I love the neighborhood. Pat Wazelle was the mom, and she volunteered in every aspect. I’m trying to think about cards. I like them all. Santa with wings coming in from outer space I liked a lot. I liked them all, but I can’t zero in very well right now.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Sure. That’s fine. I like your description of the one about the neighborhood too. That’s an awful sweet subject. So after the volunteers voted and there were a number of them selected to actually go into production, what happened next?
Karen Harrison:
Oh, I’ll tell you one thing before I go to that. In my five-year plan was to not only do Christmas cards but to do cards that the Jewish community would be interested in. As volunteers, they are fabulous. We have a great number of them, and they are very, very giving. And so we did a menorah. They don’t buy cards like we send Christmas cards. They don’t do as many, but it was an important, in my opinion, innovation to include them in that way.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Yes, important part of the patient population certainly and also part of the community to be inclusive. Yes.
Karen Harrison:
So now back to your question.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
No. I mean, I’m glad you made that point. Were there any other elements of your five-year plan that you wanted to point out? That’s important. All those details are important.
Karen Harrison:
Something might come in again, but just in the conversation I thought I hadn’t mentioned that, and that was important.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Be sure you add in anything that comes to mind. We were talking about what happens next. After the volunteers voted and the cards that were going to go into production were selected, what happened next?
Karen Harrison:
The Art Department—there is an Art Department at MD Anderson—they made them print ready.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
And then they went into production. Now, were you involved at all in selecting some of those details, like what stationer was going to produce them or what the paper looked like?
Karen Harrison:
Yeah.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
So tell me about that process.
Karen Harrison:
We went out for bids. I was very much in all the details. As I said, at one point I did become the assistant director of volunteers, but that was— A new person in MD Anderson said that it was time for me to be that or whatever, and that was very gracious of her to do it. It was not, again, anything I had even thought of or had been seeking. We had a real small room. First we were downstairs at Volunteer Services. Then we had a real small room up on the first floor that was just the card office. And then eventually we had one when the Art Department really got involved. We were over on another floor. But anyway, our location moved.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
So you were in the Art Department?
Karen Harrison:
No. No.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
So the second room, when you got more space, was still within Volunteer Services, but it was just more space?
Karen Harrison:
Yes. I mean, it wasn’t down where Volunteer Services was; it was upstairs in the—what building? I don’t even know what it was called then. It doesn’t exist now.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
So at first there was you involved, and then how many other volunteers were helping you kind of move this project forward in the very beginning?
Karen Harrison:
I mentioned Pat Wazelle and Rock Rabinowitz and Carolyn Hamrick. Gerry Berard I mentioned, and he was an evening volunteer.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
And these were all people specifically involved with the Children’s Art Project?
Karen Harrison:
Yes.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Wow. And how many—say, ten years down the line—how many volunteers were involved? Were there a lot more?
Karen Harrison:
There are still a lot more. I have a granddaughter that is with a benevolent organization, and they came to Anderson several times, but they finally had to give it up because they had so many volunteers that they didn’t really have room for these girls to do all this work.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Amazing.
Karen Harrison:
And my granddaughter came home and said, “Abuelita, I didn’t know there was a
Karen Harrison:
Award.”
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Is there a
Karen Harrison:
Award?
Karen Harrison:
There is a
Karen Harrison:
Award.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I had no idea. So when was that instituted?
Karen Harrison:
I don’t know.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
You must have felt very honored to hear that.
Karen Harrison:
I was very honored. It certainly was an honor.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Wow. And what is the
Karen Harrison:
Award given for?
Karen Harrison:
For good volunteering.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Oh, so it’s—
Karen Harrison:
At the Appreciation Luncheon where we display the cards, they then make 10,000 hours, the different awards like that, and the
Karen Harrison:
Award is given. I’m not sure exactly the wording on it, but it’s given.
Recommended Citation
Harrison, Karen K. and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 03: Details about the Children’s Christmas Card Project" (2012). Interview Chapters. 874.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/874
Conditions Governing Access
Open
