Love blossomed at an inaugural Sugar Bloom Ball, an inspiring black-tie affair at the picturesque Lake House to benefit the Sugar Bloom Foundation. Founded by Rachel Clark, the nonprofit comforts cancer patients through orchids, letters of encouragement and wellness classes.
“People like Rachel get things done. People like Rachel create change for the better,” said event emcee Tiffany Corr. She added that only Rachel could have sold out all 180 tickets to a first-time event within two weeks.
After her mother, known to the family as Sugar, passed away from an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2022, Clark realized that others were sitting in similarly depressing waiting rooms, scared and alone.
“It just made me think, well, maybe I could just help one person. Maybe I could alleviate somebody’s pain,” said Clark.
Turning her grief into action, she established Sugar Bloom, which for the past four years has been making lives a little brighter for patients undergoing the same stressful challenges Clark and her mother faced during treatment.
Her initial gesture of gifting orchids on the anniversary of her mother’s passing has turned into a full-on Sugar Bloom movement, one that delivers orchids and letters to hundreds of oncology patients at Florida Cancer Specialists and Cleveland Clinic. The foundation is funded entirely by donations, 100 percent of which supports the mission.
“What I want to do is really create a sense of community where we incorporate movement, we incorporate nature, and we incorporate beauty. And I really think that as we move forward together, we can start to create a community that comes together and heals,” said Clark.
“I don’t have any sage advice or wisdom. However, I do believe that showing up in life when we are at our worst, and having the courage to keep going, is really one of life’s hardest but most beautiful lessons,” said Clark.
Their Junior Blooms program is flourishing, with children from Beachland Elementary School, Saint Edward’s School, Riverside Children’s Theatre, and all the county’s VPK programs writing letters of encouragement. They hope to expand the program into all district schools, and she would like to partner with educators and counselors to develop a more structured Junior Blooms curriculum to foster empathy in children.
Moving Forward, a wellness support program, offers free monthly classes featuring various themes and healing modalities, which they hope to eventually put online by 2027.
She announced that evening that they are establishing a new Steve Wade Rooted in Strength Fund to pay for patients’ holistic and integrated treatments, such as acupuncture, therapy, Pilates, yoga or meditation. The fund honors the late Steve Wade, who with wife Christie were among the first people she met after moving to Vero Beach.
“They served as my mentors, friends, allies and teachers, and they taught me about service. Steve was a man of service and gave me strength and resilience. I hope that this fund will serve our community and bring a little of Steve’s gentle spirit to each of us in the end.”
An Eternal Garden painting, completed that evening, contained the names of loved ones people wished to remember and honor.
“I believe that remembering those that we lose in this lifetime allows us to keep them close in eternity,” said Clark.
“My mom described her cancer as death by a thousand paper cuts. She said that cancer robbed her of life’s dignities and pleasures over and over,” said Clark. Their hope, she said, is to provide a balm to that anguish through the gift of kindness.
For more information, visit CHCVero.org.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
