So much to give

Like most mothers Carol Ann Cole considers raising her child her proudest achievement in life. It is easy to hear the happiness in her voice as she describes her son, James Scott, now 34, and his accomplishments. “He even brags about being a Momma’s boy,” Carol Ann laughs..

James certainly does have reasons to brag about his Mom. This Middleton Regional High School graduate has achieved great success in so many areas of her life — and yet still remains the modest Maritimer.

“I now just want to give back to others what I have learned,” says Carol Ann. “Just like there were those who helped me along the way. “

Carol Ann Cole was born in Wilmot, Nova Scotia in 1946. As a young woman she moved to North Bay, Ontario and began her career there at Bell Canada as a typist. She was eager to learn and showed great determination and strength. These abilities did not go unnoticed by those at Bell and she was provided with many opportunities to satisfy her quest to soak up knowledge. “You should never be afraid to say you don’t understand something. People will always respect you for that and won’t mind helping you,” Carol Ann says.

Her keen sense of determination and self-proclaimed workaholic tendencies soon propelled her upwards on the corporate ladder at Bell Canada. With each successive step that she took, Carol Ann was always aware of those who had assisted in her success. In fact, she was fondly recalled as one of the bosses who remembered all the installers’ names.

In 1989 she achieved a unique goal — one that brought her both great career recognition and personal satisfaction. Carol Ann was named one of the first female Vice Presidents of Bell Canada. “I was proud to be in this non-traditional role and was proud to now have 3,000 people on my team,” she says.

Within three short years of being named Vice President of Bell Carol Ann’s life was to undergo a drastic change. Both she and her mother were diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. Her mother died the next year.

“In 1994, after the battles I had been through – I decided to retire from Bell Canada and moveback to Nova Scotia. “I also knew it was the right time to be here and to start giving back so I moved home in1996,” she says.

It was anything but an easy time for Carol Ann following the death of her mother, but she would not allow herself to be defeated. True to her belief in being honest Carol Ann says that she was not embarrassed to shed a tear, but refused to allow negative energy to consume her. “I definitely choose to believe that your highs won’t be as great in life if you don’t ever experience the lows,” says Carol Ann.

On a chance trip shopping one day Carol Ann discovered a wonderful little pewter heart that was sold under the name of Worry Hearts. She bought several and gave them away to friends. This was the beginning of Carol Ann’s quest to find a way to start giving back. These little hearts would be the means to generate funds for cancer research.

“The ideas started coming fast and furiously, “says Carol Ann. “I knew that it would work if it were planned properly, and I knew that I wanted to put this fundraising into cancer research. It is my dream for everyone to live and hope in a world without cancer. Research IS hope.”

Carol Ann wanted to get started right away on selling these hearts for her cause. First she met with the manufacturers, OceanArt Pewter. They agreed to help with the plan.

“OceanArt Pewter promised three things. They agreed to give us the net proceeds, repackage it for me, and accept the name change to Comfort Hearts. The Comfort Heart Initiative had begun. ‘Giddy up, let’s go,’ as my son would say,” she says with a laugh.

The original sales objective was met easily and then received a big boost when the Toronto Star ran a story on the fundraiser on December 13, 1996. To date the Comfort Hearts have raised over one million dollars.

It is important to point out that all the work that Carol Ann puts into the Comfort Heart Initiative is on a volunteer basis. In fact she pays for all the mail costs and even writes a personal note to almost everyone who purchases a comfort heart. She has also received thousands of personal stories from the Comfort Heart owners. “I am so fortunate that Bell Canada has printed all the cards that I use for inserts. They have helped a lot,” she says.

Carol Ann has been given several awards over the past few years for all her work on the Comfort Heart Initiative. She quickly dismisses any mention of these accolades and instead says that she would give every single medal away if she could give them back to those who have helped her along the way.

“So many people don’t get recognized for the work they do, both on a professional and volunteer basis. Look at all those installers at Bell they certainly have helped me far more than they realize on my road in life,” says Carol Ann.

For the record Carol Ann has received much more than just simple medals for a job well done. She has, in fact, been the recipient of some of the country’s most prestigious honours.

Carol Ann in 1998 was ‘one of twelve’ women named to the Macleans Magazine Annual Honour Roll for outstanding Canadians and in 1999, Woman of the Year by the Jewish Women International of Toronto. In addition, she has been awarded the Golden Jubilee Medal created by the Government of Canada to commemorate the Queen’s 50^th anniversary of her ascension to the throne, and on May 30, 2001 experienced, in her own words, one of the most humbling days of her life. Carol Ann was inducted into the Order of Canada by the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson for her role in the Comfort Heart Initiatives as a major fundraiser for cancer research.

Carol Ann says that she finds herself now in a good place both professionally and personally in her life. The Comfort Heart Initiative is doing well and she is busy now doing motivational speaking. “I had a need to reconnect with the professional world and then started my own international motivational speaking company called ColeMind. I travel quite a bit and really enjoy the work and experience that speaking brings. My goal is always to reach one person in one single day. If I can do that then the work is all worthwhile,” she says.

Carol Ann explains that although cancer has been a doorway for her, she is not defined by it. “I have written a book which is really an autobiography. It is called Comfort Heart — a Personal Memoir. Now I am working on another book which is basically a sequel to the first one,” she says. “It will outline the mistakes that I have made and the lessons that I have learned. There is so much more to me than breast cancer. I want people to know that.”