Glen Arbor gives back: benefit offers ray of hope
By Linda Alice Dewey
Sun contributor
When Trish Vanderploeg and her husband, Wayne, moved to Glen Arbor four years ago, nobody knew her. Now, an entire community is pulling together to support her. With that support may come the gift of life.
Back in 2012, Vanderploeg’s first summer flew by, then autumn slowed. But when winter hit and everything stopped, she decided she’d better make some friends. The fact that Vanderploeg didn’t stay home and stew is one of the things people love about her. Always proactive, she believes that people are given situations and need to find a way deal with them.
She’s had lots of opportunity to walk her talk. The couple has two grown children and three grandchildren, but when she was 23, their first baby died. In addition, she has had breast cancer three times, yet taught throughout, even during chemotherapy.
So now, faced with her first Glen Lake winter, Vanderploeg joined the Glen Arbor Art Association’s (GAAA) Readers Theater, then another GAAA committee. It snowballed from there. “I just got on all these boards,” she laughs. Vanderploeg made lots of friends.
Things were great until this past fall, when a small dry cough jumped to full-blown diagnosis in January — inoperable lung cancer, innumerable tumors. Things appeared hopeless, yet Vanderploeg pulled herself together and put on her game face.
“You would never know, talking to her, looking at her, that there’s a thing wrong with her,” observes
Empire resident and friend Ralph Mittelberger. “She refuses to take this on as a death sentence. She’s absolutely determined to continue to fulfill all of her volunteer commitments and continues to be helpful to others … Yesterday was a chemo day and she walked out of there and said, ‘Cancer will not define me.’ You walk out and say, ‘Wow, I would like to be like her.’”
The community began to give back. A Glen Arbor Women’s Club acquaintance suggested Vanderploeg look into M.D. Anderson, the Houston cancer center. The Vanderploegs ended up going there. She may qualify for a clinical trial. The long term hope would be to hold the cancer at bay.
However, funds are tight. Though everything else might be paid for, the Vanderploegs can’t afford the trips back and forth.
Enter her new community of friends. To help the couple, her organizations will sponsor a May 14 benefit at the Glen Lake Community Reformed Church in Burdickville, including a nearly sold out dinner; a silent auction, which is still open to the public; and a Readers’ Theater performance, for which seating will be available. A book of poems Vanderploeg wrote about her journey is also available, and donations by mail are accepted. Check out the Facebook page, “Baskets of Blessings,” for more information.
Vanderploeg is overwhelmed by this outpouring. “It’s just giving us hope that it’s gonna be okay,” she says through tears … “Because it’s making it possible to do something we never thought was possible.”
