Young cancer survivor wants to bring cheer to others
Like most children her age, 11-year-old Anna Rohweder likes to clown around.
Unlike most youths, Anna took special training to learn to do it right.
"Clowning is more than slapping on makeup and acting dumb. That's not what we do. It's a sharing of your inner spirit," said Karen Plunkett, founder of Tender Loving Clowns, a troupe of about 20 volunteers who suit up in colorful wigs, red noses and silly costumes to help charities throughout Tulsa.
Anna, who performs as "Sweet Pea" -- her grandmother's nickname for her -- decided to join Tender Loving Clowns after meeting a member of the group last winter.
The young leukemia survivor met the Tender Loving Clowns at a Christmas party for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses.
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After going on a Disney cruise with Make-A-Wish in 2003, Anna -- who has been cancer-free for a year and a half -- wanted to pass on some of the kindness she had received when she was sick.
"At the 2004 Christmas party, I met Breezy there, and I just thought it was so cool that she was a clown, and I thought it would be fun to be a clown, so my mom told her ... and Sweet Pea was born," Anna said.
Anna's maturity and generosity impressed Plunkett.
"She has the right attitude and the right spirit about it, and she's going about it in a very businesslike manner," Plunkett said. "We want very loving, giving people."
Plunkett started Tender Loving Clowns about four years ago to help Tulsa's nonprofit organizations, which don't always have the money to hire people to perform at fundraising events and other activities.
"These nonprofits don't have the budgets to pay for entertainment sometimes," she said.
"I cannot in good conscience say, 'Oh, yeah, we'd love to help you raise money, but you have to give us some.'"
Tender Loving Clowns will perform free for any registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
A 501(c)3 organization is registered with the government as a nonprofit group with tax-exempt status.
The volunteer work keeps group members busy, Plunkett said.
"Sometimes we've had three events on the same day. If they're worthwhile organizations, and we can help them, I'll say yes to them, and we just go back to back to back," she said. "In April, we had five events in one weekend -- three on Saturday, two on Sunday. Fortunately, I've found a lot of caring, giving people who will say yes with me."
The clowns draw attention wherever they go.
For instance, Plunkett created a stir when she went to the airport for a Make-A-Wish event.
"I'm going through security, and the manufacturers of the clown costumes put all these things together with safety pins," she said. "I'm just beeping like crazy, and so they're just patting me down. It was the funniest thing -- people were taking pictures, and I'm just cracking up. ... It was a riot."
Another time, Plunkett and a fellow clown had gone out for ice cream when a woman invited them to visit her sister, who was dying of cancer.
By the time they left, the patient was laughing -- and her family was crying, Plunkett said.
"They said, 'We haven't had laughter in this house in so long. Thank you,'" she said.
That experience prompted Plunkett to get involved with a hospice program. Last week, Grace Hospice trained members of Tender Loving Clowns to help patients.
"I'm not a doctor who can cure their cancer or whatever's wrong with them, but I can make them forget for a while," Plunkett said.
Anna, decked out in a sparkly pink nose, screaming fuchsia wig and shoes she spray-painted to match the wig, made her first appearance as Sweet Pea at a recent Make-A-Wish fundraiser.
"She was great," Plunkett said. "She really got into the spirit of it. She was laughing and giggling. She was funny. It was cute. She let her inner clown out. She was passing out stickers and talking to people and all kinds of fun stuff."
Anna enjoys being a clown.
"I like making other people happy," she said. "Seeing other sick kids is kind of sad, but I like to make them feel good."
Tender Loving Clowns, an all-volunteer organization, provides clowns for nonprofit fundraisers and events. For more information, go online at http://tenderlovingclowns.com/ or call 409-1550.