HOMETOWN HERO RO
Silhouettes for Survivors Texas artist snips paper profiles to benefit breast cancer survivors By Marti Attoun, contributing editor •
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uninsured breast cancer survivors. Eden’s mother, Allison, 34, of nearby Pearland (pop. 37,640), marvels at the silhouette’s striking resemblance to her daughter, complete with eyelashes, curls and hair ribbon. “A good silhouette should be more than a shadow,” says Rose, 61, while snipping facial profiles during a benefit last October at Bering’s store in Houston. “It should capture the person’s personality.” Rose has created hundreds of thousands of paper profiles, including those of Elvis Presley and Queen Elizabeth, since landing her first job at age 16 as a silhouette artist at AstroWorld amusement park in Houston. Just as impressive as her instant portraits is Rose’s concern for others. In 2005, she founded the Rose Ribbon Foundation with her husband, Dr. Franklin Rose, a plastic surgeon, to provide free reconstructive surgery to uninsured breast cancer survivors. Her silhouettes have raised more than $200,000 for the charity. “I realized that I could make a difference in the world by giving people hope, goals and Cindi Harwood Rose holds a paper silhouette created for Eden Rockwell. wellness,” she says.
EDEN ROCKWELL, 4, perches on a chair and stares straight ahead as artist Cindi Harwood Rose creates a silhouette of the child’s face with surgical scissors and a blank sheet of black paper. For a $40 donation to her Rose Ribbon Foundation, the Houston, Texas, woman clips Eden’s paper profile in 40 seconds and, in the process, helps fund reconstructive surgery for
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She created the foundation to honor her sister, Holly Harwood Skolkin, 58, of Houston, who was diagnosed in 1997 with advancedstage breast cancer. Since Skolkin’s cancer had spread, she did not undergo a mastectomy, but her longing for a life of “normalcy” touched In 1982, the her sister’s heart. That desire to feel San Antonio and look normal is shared by breastExpress-News cancer survivor Pat timed Rose as McCaffety, 56, of Hempstead, Texas she snipped (pop. 4,691). For three 144 silhouettes years, she lived with scars from a double in an hour. mastectomy. “It was a daily reminder that I had cancer,” McCaffety says. “I was very selfconscious.” McCaffety didn’t have medical insurance and never imagined that she could afford reconstructive breast surgery. Then a friend suggested she contact the Rose Ribbon Foundation. In May 2010, McCaffety underwent reconstructive surgery, and it didn’t cost her a penny. “I still can’t believe this has happened until I look in the mirror,” McCaffety says as she wipes away tears. When she harvested her garden last year, she filled a big basket with squash, tomatoes and bell peppers for the Roses. (Continued on page 12)