Thankful For My Sister Janine DeFeo

Good Thanksgiving Eve. Thank you so much for supporting all my Social Channels, for putting up with my crazy schedule, for coming back day after day to see what my view of the world is. Thank you for 10 years of being my friend. Today I want to focus on my sister Janine DeFeo, you might recall that my sister Janine is my Admin/scheduler/organizer, which is an immearsuable help.

If she didn’t invoice the clients and keep the schedule for all 5 of the PhillyChitChat (PCC) photographers, there wouldn’t be a PCC company, and we’d have no money cause I just can’t run a business as well as she can. There’s so much more to the story than Janine my “assistant”, there’s Janine a wife, mother, friend, volunteer, entrepreneur, philanthropic Janine.

Janine was the first one in the family to have a selfie stick, but she never takes selfies without a posse in the picture

Many of you know that my Beloved sister Judy Wilkins died of Ovarian Cancer in 2009. Janine jump in action and began to get involved with several organizations to help spread awareness of the disease, as well as work to raise money for treatment and a cure. There wasn’t a lot of organizations like that in Charlotte, NC in 2010, so she started one, while also helping out with one that was there – Carolinas Ovarian Cancer Fund at Levine Cancer Institute. She also started working with Philly’s Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation here in Philadelphia in 2011, and became good friend with Robin Cohen, the founder.  Either Janine or my sister Margaret is a presence at the walk every April on the Parkway.

In 2015, Janine and her friend Amy Roberts, whose grandmother died from ovarian cancer, initiated the Teal Buttefly Challenge as a way to bring awareness to the disease that kills about 14,180 women each year. Every spring, on March 21, the “challenge” begins.  It’s simple to do.

*Paint your nails TEAL
*Make a butterfly symbol by interlocking your thumbs
*Take a photo or a video and post on social media (#tealbutterflychallenge #ovariancancerawareness) on Twitter or FB. .
*Challenge 10 of your friends to do the same 

Now in November, the month of my sister Judy’s birthday, Janine has started another initiative: “Men of Teal”. From Janine’s instagram:

janine_defeoTeal Butterfly Challenge is proud to introduce to you our very own MEN OF TEAL. Each day during the month of November we will feature men who have loved and supported us over the years. If you know someone who would like to be a part of this new awareness campaign please send us a message, we would love to hear from you. T-shirts are available now $15 includes s&h. And now to kick off the month, our very own and our personal favorite….
Tom DeFeo: I wear Teal to stand with those who are fighting right now.
I wear Teal to remember those who fought courageously to the end.
I wear Teal to honor those that survived.
I wear Teal to support those trying to do something about this horrible disease.
I wear Teal in hope for a cure for Ovarian Cancer #MenofTeal #tealbutterflychallenge #ovariancancerawareness tealbutterflychallenge.com @tomdefe

Thanks to the Men of Teal for their support this month. Thanks to my sister Janine for her tireless fight against Ovarian Cancer. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Janine and her family had a cancer fight of their own last year. In August 2016 her daughter Nicole was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. After months chemo and radiation, Nicole is now in remission.

Nicole has returned to school, and Janine back to her advocacy work, now raising awareness for both diseases with time and money.

Thank you Janine DeFeo for everything you do for PhillyChitChat,

for raising awareness and money to combat cancer and for being an advocate for others.

Happy Birthday Judy Wilkins on Friday November 24, Black Friday indeed.