<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Matt’s Chemo Bags started after mom’s diagnosis

Son makes tote bags with goodies to help comfort patients

By Marissa Harshman, Columbian Health Reporter
Published: October 4, 2014, 5:00pm
3 Photos
Matt Ferguson, 20, created Matt's Chemo Bags when he was 14 years old and his mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Ferguson's mom received a bag full of comfort items, such as a blanket, candy, puzzles and lotion.
Matt Ferguson, 20, created Matt's Chemo Bags when he was 14 years old and his mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Ferguson's mom received a bag full of comfort items, such as a blanket, candy, puzzles and lotion. Ferguson noticed other women didn't have those comforts and decided to create and distribute bags to women undergoing treatment in the metro area. Photo Gallery

Find more about Matt’s Chemo Bags at the nonprofit’s website, www.mattschemobags.com, or the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/Mattschemobags

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Find more stories of courage, treatment and survival in the face of breast cancer at www.columbian.com/news/health/breast-cancer

Matt Ferguson was 14 years old when his mom, Julie Ferguson, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

That Christmas, while undergoing treatment, Julie Ferguson received a tote bag with a blanket, pillow, Sudoku puzzles, candy and other goodies.

Find more about Matt's Chemo Bags at the nonprofit's website, www.mattschemobags.com, or the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/Mattschemobags

She took the bag everywhere she went.

“I noticed the comfort it brought her,” Matt Ferguson said. “It was kind of like a security blanket.”

While sitting in the Portland oncology center with his mom as she underwent chemotherapy, Ferguson noticed other women weren’t so lucky.

“I noticed a lot of these ladies didn’t have the security blanket, so to speak,” he said.

So Ferguson decided to provide them with security blankets of their own.

He put together five bags and delivered them to the center where his mother was receiving treatment, Northwest Cancer Specialists, which is now Compass Oncology. Then he delivered another five, and then more.

People quickly took notice of the teenager and his bags, which he named Matt’s Chemo Bags. Soon, the donations started flooding in.

Ferguson reached out to other area oncology centers and started delivering bags across the metro area. That first year, he delivered up to 60 bags a month.

After that first year, Matt’s Chemo Bags grew exponentially — and quickly.

In 2010, a 15-year-old Ferguson received the Breast Friends of Oregon Compassion Award. He received more nominations than the nonprofit had ever recorded.

“That pushed me into the world of breast cancer advocacy,” Ferguson said.

After that, he received a couple of $2,000 Susan G. Komen of Southwest Washington and Oregon mini grants. In 2012, after graduating from Liberty High School in Hillsboro, Ore., Ferguson was named a TeenNick Halo Award recipient. The Nickelodeon cable network created the awards to honor the community service efforts of inspiring teens across the country. The award came with a $10,000 grant.

As donations increased, so did the reach of Matt’s Chemo Bags.

Ferguson was already delivering bags to the Vancouver Compass Oncology center when, in 2011, he started taking bags to The Vancouver Clinic’s oncology center. The expansion came when Charmaine Houriet became the Vancouver Clinic’s Oncology, Infusion and Nephrology Clinic manager.

Ferguson had partnered with Houriet when she worked at Northwest Cancer Specialists in Portland to get Matt’s Chemo Bags running. From the beginning, Houriet was impressed by the teenager’s maturity and motivation.

“I think it’s a fabulous program,” she said. “I am absolutely in awe of Matt and what he’s accomplished.”

Every couple of months, Houriet receives a delivery of 30 to 50 Matt’s Chemo Bags. She and the staff at The Vancouver Clinic’s oncology center give the bags to all first-time patients — regardless of their cancer diagnosis or their gender.

“They’re thrilled for the gifts,” Houriet said. “They’re not really sure what they’re walking into. It’s a scary time. So to have some comfort items from someone who doesn’t even know them means a lot.”

The durable tote bags carry the Matt’s Chemo Bags logo and are stuffed with items — fleece blankets and pillows, silk scarves, teddy bears, calendars, notepads and pens, spa socks, lotion, hand sanitizer, facial tissue. Ferguson estimates the bags would cost $40 to $45 each if he had to purchase all of the items.

Matt’s Chemo Bags is currently operating entirely on donations, Ferguson said. He hasn’t had the time to search for grants. Local community groups, organizations, businesses and individual donors have kept the nonprofit thriving — and growing.

While maintaining the operations in the Northwest — with the help of family and friends — Ferguson has expanded Matt’s Chemo Bags to the Southwest, where he attends Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Find more stories of courage, treatment and survival in the face of breast cancer at www.columbian.com/news/health/breast-cancer

Ferguson has delivered bags to nearly every oncology center in Phoenix. He recently sent bags to Boise, Idaho and, with the help of members of his college fraternity, delivered dozens of bags to Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City.

And that’s in addition to serving clinics across Washington, Oregon and northern California.

In the five years since Ferguson launched Matt’s Chemo Bags, he’s delivered more than 9,500 bags. But Ferguson doesn’t plan to stop now.

“My main goal is to get Matt’s Chemo Bags as a nationwide service event,” Ferguson said. “It’s definitely a big step.”

Groups in the Midwest have already contacted Ferguson about expanding his efforts there. Right now, the only thing holding him back is time and funding.

This fall, Ferguson started his junior year of college. He’s studying business management and economics and hopes to double major. He takes summer classes — he wants to graduate in four years — and has earned a 3.0 or better grade point average for the last four semesters.

In addition to his classes, Ferguson teaches a college introductory course for freshmen and is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He’s also trying to enjoy just being a 20-year-old college student.

But despite his hectic schedule, Ferguson said he has no intention to halt Matt’s Chemo Bags. Every month he receives letters from women and their families, thanking him for the work he does.

“That’s exactly the reason why I keep doing this,” he said. “I know that I’m making a difference.”

Loading...
Columbian Health Reporter