Spirit…Transformation…Hope

The butterfly is a symbol of all these. For children and adults with cancer and other serious illnesses, the butterfly represents what is possible. John “Butterfly Guy” Strader, a Physician Assistant in the NC Cancer Hospital, started decorating the children’s IV poles with butterflies, to make them less scary. Soon, the bright paper butterflies were everywhere, bringing smiles to patients and staff alike.Seventeen-year old Derek Baker saw the transformation first hand - two years ago his mom, Pam Baker, who works in the Patient Resource Center at NC Cancer Hospital, had breast cancer, so he knows how scary the hospital is for families as well as patients. He decided to create the Butterfly Garden for his Eagle Scout project.

They brought the idea to our Planetree at UNC program. Planetree is a national alliance of hospitals dedicated to promoting models of patient-centered care. The butterfly garden is a perfect fit for the Planetree at UNC goal of creating more humanistic healing environments for patients, families, staff, and our community.

Troop 39, under the direction of James Mackerel (Mr. Mack, as he’s known to all), embraced the idea, and went to work planning. Derek raised money, researched the butterflies and what plants were needed, enlisted the help of the Master Gardeners, brought in new plants, and transformed the courtyard between Children’s Hospital and NC Memorial Hospital into a butterfly oasis. They have adopted the garden, and the troop will continue to maintain it. Troop 39, the oldest troop in the Southeast and second-oldest in the US, has a rich and fascinating heritage that springs from a profound sense of duty to nature, community, and the character development of its young men.  The Troop's history, interwoven with the history of Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina, and indeed our country, seems to illustrate the word "pioneering," whether describing its early founding in 1912, its war efforts, its community service projects, or its well-known recycling programs.  As the Troop enters its tenth decade of existence, it carries forward this pioneering spirit of the past in a way sure to bring future benefits not only to its young men but also to a growing and changing Chapel Hill.

Our patients got involved, too. Kids in the NC Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Expressive Arts Summer Camp, under the direction of Ruth Hamilton, MA, Ed, painted beautiful butterflies, and UNC art student Susannah Miller made and decorated Origami butterflies with kids in the Pediatrics waiting room.

According to a Native American legend, if you capture a butterfly, whisper your wish to it, and give the butterfly its freedom, the wish will be taken to the heavens and granted. One of our wishes is for the Butterfly Garden to grow and thrive.

And you can be a part of it. You can sponsor a butterfly to remember, to honor, or to celebrate someone you care for.
Your donation (suggested donation - $10) will help our Butterfly Garden to thrive. To sponsor a butterfly or support the garden, contact Sandi Jarr (919-966-1500, SJarr@unch.unc.edu)

This is Derek’s wish for the children, and all of our patients:
“that seeing the butterflies in the garden will brighten their day and bring a smile to their face and joy to their heart."

The Butterfly Garden at UNC Hospitals is an Eagle Project of BSA Troop 39, Chapel Hill, in collaboration with Planetree at UNC  and support from: all-a-flutter(Greensboro), Amazing Butterflies (FL), Apex Nursery,BSA Troop 39, Carolina Biological Supply Company (Burlington), Chapel Hill/Carrboro Tae Kwon Do, Master Gardners Association of North Carolina, UNC Oncology Patient & Family Resource Center, the UNC Hospitals Volunteer Association, and our friends and families.