Ambassador Profile: Jane Van Eaton

Jane Van Eaton has been volunteering her entire life, from her days as a teenage candy striper at Children’s Hospital to just last year when she ventured to South America on mission trips. So when the Birmingham native heard that the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center was looking for volunteers for its new Ambassador Program, naturally she was among the first to join.            

“I love the atmosphere at UAB,” Ms. Van Eaton says. “I was actually born here in Jefferson-Hillman Hospital, so I’ve watched UAB grow into what it is today. It’s an incredible place.”            

Personal Inspiration            
When Edward Partridge, M.D., became Cancer Center director in 2007, he promised to establish a Cancer Center Ambassador Program consisting of community volunteers to guide newly diagnosed patients through their first day at UAB. The program formally launched in fall 2008 as part of the center’s new Integrated Multidisciplinary Cancer Care Program.

For Ms. Van Eaton, cancer has struck particularly close to home. In 2007, she lost her brother to a brain tumor, and she recalls the feeling of being in a strange place while facing a cancer diagnosis. “My brother was treated at the Mayo Clinic, and I remember how scared I was being up there in a strange city,” she says.

That experience inspired Ms. Van Eaton to join the Cancer Center Ambassadors at UAB, where she hopes to help other cancer patients avoid the feelings of uncertainty. Ms. Van Eaton also has lost several close friends to cancer, including Jim Hayes, a longtime friend and supporter of the Cancer Center who lost his battle with the disease in 2008. “Jim was just so wonderful,” she says. “I remember how good the Cancer Center was to him and how much it meant to him.”  

Answers and Comfort            
Every week for one day, Ms. Van Eaton spends four hours in the gastrointestinal oncology clinic at The Kirklin Clinic®. There she greets new patients, answers their questions and guides them to their next appointment or other places in the medical center. Since she began volunteering, Ms. Van Eaton has seen how her role as an ambassador can directly benefit patients.            

“It’s alarming to see how many patients come to the clinic by themselves,” she says. “Some are in denial, and some realize they’re sicker than they thought. I just try to be sensitive to their needs.”            

If a patient wants to talk, Ms. Van Eaton lets him or her set the agenda. “One day I had a woman who said she didn’t want to talk about cancer. She wanted to talk about fashion. So we sat there and talked about fashion.”            

Fashion is actually familiar territory for Ms. Van Eaton. When not volunteering, she contracts as a special event coordinator, specializing in fashion shows. But volunteering is a cause that remains close to her heart.            

“Volunteering helps me stay focused,” she says. “The Comprehensive Cancer Center has meant so much to me. I love it. I’d be up here every day if I could."