She was there for Brooke in hospital and tried to give her a sense normalcy and beauty.
She was 27 years old when she was told that she only had one year left to live. Kastanis explained to CBS News that she returned home after learning her condition and took up residency in her hospital room. “And I realized that it was a very stale atmosphere, which was very depressing for her psyche. It was impossible to motivate her to feel beautiful and like herself.
Kastanis stated, “So, I brought hair and make-up and tried everything to lift her spirits.” “And she started to take less morphine and it transformed her whole persona,” Kastanis said.
Jackelyn was determined to find a way for women battling cancer to feel the same mood lift. Beauty comes from within, but sometimes it’s just a matter of having human contact while in hospital.
She began visiting hospitals with “glam girls”, volunteers who she calls her “glam ladies”, to provide makeovers and beauty products to girls and women battling illness.
Her nonprofit Simply from the Heart was founded in Illinois. However, volunteers have established chapters all over the United States.
They create “glam boxes” containing 30 beauty products donated by individuals and companies and then take them to patients at the hospital. They have assembled thousands of glamboxes and touched the lives more than 5,000 people since 2014.
Kastanis stated that it gives them the distraction they need. “I felt that Brooke was identified by her illness. That was what most killed me.” Brooke passed away in 2011, but Kastanis continues to work to make others feel confident, just as she did Brooke.
She said, “I wanted it be an experience that felt just like Christmas morning or a birthday or something just so magical.” The glam box with 30 beauty products it’s a memento. It’s a memory in a package that they can reuse and open.
They can get medical treatment and help with their recovery, but they also need to be supported by friends, kindness, and a little glam to keep the flame alive.
“One patient, I recall her saying, “These girls healed my in a way that the doctors couldn’t.” Kastanis said, “That spoke volumes to us.” “We have our doctors, and they keep us alive. However, emotionally, we want our souls to be energized to get us through.
