Fighting cancer on Cape: How to make a difference with a glamorous gown and a dance party

Gwenn Friss, Cape Cod Times
·4 min read

After a successful fun and fundraising turn with “Dancing With the Docs,” the Cape Wellness Collaborative is throwing a dance party that anyone can attend with or without a medical degree.

The Second Chance Prom, to be held March 31 at the Pelham House Resort in Dennis Port, is for anyone who didn’t get a chance to go to prom or just wants to polish up their memories of the iconic high school experience.

“It’s cabin fever time on the Cape, in February and March, and people welcomed the chance to dress up and go out (for “Dancing WIth the Docs”) so we kept the same season and kept the glamor level the same with this event,” said Abigail R. Field, chief executive officer for the Cape Wellness Collaborative.

Kellie Farrar, who now lives in Sandwich, at her junior prom in 1986 with her "Gone With the Wind" gown and her gentleman caller who stepped in when her date cancelled two days before. He even found a pink cumberbund.
Kellie Farrar, who now lives in Sandwich, at her junior prom in 1986 with her "Gone With the Wind" gown and her gentleman caller who stepped in when her date cancelled two days before. He even found a pink cumberbund.

The cocktails - and raspberry-lime mocktail - your prom didn't have.

Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the evening will kick off at 7. Black tie attire is suggested. There will be prom music from all eras and an official prom photo for each guest, as well a photo booth. There are 222 tickets being sold at $200 each, available at https://www.capewellness.org/second-chance-prom.

The evening features finger foods including sliders and flatbread. And there’s no need to sneak in a flask. Cocktails will be available to everyone old enough to drink.

Field said Cape Cod Healthcare created a signature raspberry-lime mocktail without alcohol for those who want a more healthful drink.

Remembering the white tuxedos and pink taffeta of a 1980s prom.

Mostly couples have signed up for prom, Field said, but there are a few people going stag. Prom organizers didn’t ask people buying tickets why they were interested in doing prom a second time, but some people shared their stories – and even had photos.

Kellie Farrar, of Sandwich, said her parents spent more than $400 for a gown for her junior prom at Exeter (N.H.) High School in 1986, but her date backed out two days before with no explanation. As she cried while filling her tank at a local gas station, the attendant, who was a classmate, offered to step in and take her to prom.

“On very short notice, he was able to get a tuxedo but he could only get white so it looked like a wedding,” she remembered, laughing. “We look like (comic strip characters) Mutt and Jeff because I was 5’10” and he might have been 5’6.”

That might not have been what drew people’s attention.

“My dress was a multi-layer cotton candy pink taffeta ‘Gone With the Wind'-style ballgown. It had a hoop skirt and that thing that goes underneath it and when I walked, it rang like a bell.”

Because she attends formal events for work, Farrar now has several gowns from which to choose.

Kellie Farrar
Kellie Farrar

Money from the dance will fund cancer care not covered by insurance.

Field said organizers realize the cost is hefty, but the $200-per-ticket prom is the new “signature gala” fundraiser for the collaborative, which provides free integrative ― or complementary ― care for cancer patients. The collaborative funds services such as massage, energy work, acupuncture and more to help ease nausea from chemotherapy, anxiety, fatigue and other side effects of cancer and its treatments.

“There’s a lot of cancer here and integrative care is not covered by insurance,” Field said. “We are trying to do more awareness around the actual benefits of these therapies. A lot of people feel funny because it’s free or they see it as a luxury, but it really does make a positive difference for patients.”

Since musician Sarah Swain founded the wellness collaborative in 2014, said Field, who took over in 2021, the effort has served more than 1,600 people and provided more than 7,000 nutritious meals to cancer patients.

Field said the Second Chance Prom has several corporate sponsors, some of whom are giving tickets to employees, which might be a more affordable way for some folks to attend.

Sponsors include Cape Cod Healthcare, the Mentzer Kline Foundation, and Karchmer Photography. Cape Cod Healthcare is the premier sponsor of the Second Chance Prom.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Second Chance Prom fundraiser on Cape Cod: another shot at big night