Community Star of the Week: Candlelighters NYC

NewYorkIslanders.com and Ridgewood Savings Bank are spotlighting heroes who are helping their community! This month we are celebrating organizations that are taking the fight to cancer. Nominate a community hero here!
Last week,
Candlelighters NYC
Executive Director and Founder Barbara Zobian came across a mother on Facebook who was looking for some help in the childhood cancer community. Her five-year-old daughter had recently undergone surgery, but complications had left them in the hospital for two weeks and the daughter's spirits were down. Zobian reached out and got on the phone with the mother and arranged for the daughter to go on a toy scavenger hunt around the hospital unit, complete with a kid-sized shopping cart.

That contact was early in the morning and by noon, a volunteer from Candlelighters had brought a trove of toys for the daughter, as well as blankets, pillows, shampoos and lotions for the mother.
"We take care of the kids and we take care of mommy," Zobian said. "We take care of the whole family… Whatever each family needs, when they need it."
In less than a day, they'd gone from total strangers to feeling like family, which is Candlelighters' goal. During dark times, Candlelighters is a beacon for families in the fight against childhood cancer.
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Consider that one example of what the organization does. During non-pandemic times, they'd stay at the hospital with the family, providing support through surgeries, scans and in-patient stays.
After providing support to thousands of families since 2007, Candlelighters have seen all the different situations or problems a family might encounter and that experience helps guide what they offer.
"The women and men on our team have a lot of common sense. We know what we need and we ask them, 'can you use this?'" Zobian said.
A perfect example is Candlelighters' stroller program. They understand that families coming in from out of town often aren't able to bring a stroller with them on a cross-country flight and that New York is a primarily walking and transit-focused city. It's the type of extra support families might not realize they need until they arrive, but Candlelighters prepares for it in advance.
Another is clothing. They've seen families plan to come to New York for a second opinion with a doctor, a trip that might only take a couple of days, and end up having to stay for months. Candlelighters provides clothing for families who are ill-equipped for New York's frigid winters and volatile weather.
But experiences for the kids is at the heart of what they do. They make sure children undergoing treatment still get a birthday party and plan events around the holidays. They throw Halloween parties, take families to view the Thanksgiving Day parade and arrange Santa visits around Christmas. At the Candlelighters apartment they host taco Tuesdays and whacky Wednesdays to give kids and families something to look forward to.
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"We're about the fun. We're about trying to keep the kids happy while they are in the worst time of their lives," Zobian said.
Through donations, they give families free passes to The MOMA, The Whitney Cooper Hewitt, The Central Park Zoo, and The Bronx Zoo and Aquarium. They arrange for tickets and visits at concerts, plays and sporting events, including Islanders games. Zobian said it's empowering for the kids to be celebrated at events like Isles games, instead of being looked at or treated as different in their daily lives.
"I can't tell you how much it means for them to be recognized in a positive manner and that's what the Islanders, with their special days make them feel so special and they deserve it," Zobian said.

Those experiences are obviously harder - if not impossible - due to COVID-19, so Candlelighters has had to improvise. They've held Zoom parties in lieu of the apartment get-togethers and have held virtual meetings/shows with professional ballet dancers.
Fundraising is another area Candlelighters has had to improvise because of the pandemic. The group's signature event, a kid-focused gala called The Hero Celebration held at The Boathouse every April, was cancelled this year. The event typically fundraises $60K for the organization.
The community is working hard to make up the shortfall, but needs help to keep providing support to families. Zobian said they've seen an influx of fundraising for Candlelighters as Bar and Bat Mitzvah projects, kids stepping up to help other kids in need.
"We're doing okay, but we still need more donations," Zobian said. "We need to keep this up for the families. The pandemic doesn't make cancer go away."
Candlelighters also creates a sense of community as well, connecting families with similar diagnosis who can provide support and relate to each other, especially far from home. It's those connections, as well as the tireless work from a small, but dedicated team of volunteers, that makes the organization feel more like a family instead of a charity.
"Once you're a Candlelighters NYC family, you're always our family," Zobian said.