Gardner White ‘Parade of Trees’ contest winner named

WARREN — When Heather Holihan was diagnosed on April 17, 2023, with stage 1B breast cancer, she underwent a double mastectomy and took a few months off work to focus on her recovery.

The Roseville resident received no income during her leave of absence. It was a trying time, not only physically and emotionally, but financially as well.

So when Holihan found out about Hot Pink Helpers, a nonprofit organization that provides grants to breast cancer patients, she applied for financial assistance. It didn’t take long for Hot Pink Helpers to gift her with a $5,000 grant.

“They came out to my house and sat with me for quite a while. What a blessing to me and my family,” said Holihan, 47. “It helped out during that time so much with house payments, car payments, living life.”

Hot Pink Helpers is a Michigan-based cancer foundation that provides financial and emotional support to families affected by cancer with a primary focus on breast cancer. The charity is 100% volunteer run. Every dollar raised goes directly towards helping families in need as they face cancer.

At present, Holihan said she is “feeling well.” In March, she will undergo a hysterectomy as a preventive measure for ovarian cancer.

“I have a doctor team out of Henry Ford,” she said. “They are so fantastic. What a great team that takes care of me.”

She also is an “open book” about the disease.

“If there is anything I can do to help anybody out,” she said.

Hot Pink Helpers will be able to assist even more people. The charity just received a $10,000 donation from Gardner White. Gardner White’s flagship store in Warren recently held its third annual Twinkle Town community celebration.

As part of the festivities, 20 local celebrities, influencers and businesses were selected to decorate Christmas trees to display in the store’s “Parade of Trees” contest. Each participant chose a charity in which to try to raise money. The public was invited to walk the store’s “Candy Cane Lane” from Nov. 12 through Dec. 8 and vote for their favorite tree. The grand prize was $10,000 for the winning tree’s charity. Nearly 70,000 votes were submitted in-store and online.

Melissa Morrow, owner of the online business, Sincerely Creative Mom, won with her “The Timeless Spirit of Christmas.” The tree — featuring red, green and gold ornaments and ribbons — was decorated with by Morrow with help from her friend Holihan.

“It has been such a fun journey,” said Morrow, who grew up in St. Clair Shores. “For a lot of people, Christmas is grand and goes back to their childhood. Your mom or your grandma used to decorate. I wanted to make sure our tree would be memorable.”

That’s what inspired Morrow’s “The Timeless Spirit of Christmas” theme. She already had some holiday decorations, but also purchased other items to complete the look. Sincerely Creative Mom, at sincerelycreativemom.com, offers online classes and retreats and in-person classes and events that focus on wreath-making and other craft-related projects. She has students from all over the world, including Australia and Ireland.   

When Morrow, of Kimball Township near Port Huron, applied for the Parade of Trees contest, she immediately picked Hot Pink Helpers because of the connection to Holihan. Morrow and Holihan have been friends since the 1990s when they both worked at Great Skate in Roseville. The pair still keep in touch with several of their coworkers from their days at the skating rink. That group of friends helped Holihan get through her cancer diagnosis.

“There are some really cool ideas,” Morrow said. “All the trees were really awesome.”

“It was such a nice event,” Holihan said. “We did see some great trees there. Melissa’s was so classic and beautiful.”

Married couple Troy Clogg and Linda Sebold Clogg, of Brighton, founded Hot Pink Helpers by way of their company, Troy Clogg Landscape Associates, based in Wixom. In 2010, the company began selling a product called the Hot Pink Deicer with a portion of sales benefiting people with cancer. Because the cause became so successful, Hot Pink Helpers was founded.

To date, the nonprofit organization has raised $775,000 to benefit others. Linda Sebold Clogg said about 80% of recipients are those diagnosed with breast cancer. She also said that with the $10,000 Gardner White grant “at least three families will be helped.”

“When they can’t work, it doesn’t take long to lose everything they’ve worked for. We are so grateful to Gardner White. They’re such an inspiration. They do so much philanthropy in the community,” Linda Sebold Clogg said. “Melissa, she’s so talented and sincerely a dynamic woman. She was so generous to choose us. We’re just so grateful and humbled.”

Along with Hot Pink Helpers, all the remaining charity partners received a donation from Gardner White for their cause.

For more information on Hot Pink Helpers, visit hot pinkhelpers.com.