NORWICH — Rosebud Tattoo, located at 6137 County Road 32 in Norwich, held their 7th annual temporary tattoo fundraiser on Thursday, August 21. The fundraiser was to benefit the Chenango Health Network Cancer Financial Assistance Program.

Rosebud Tattoo owner Brett Lein said the event began with permanent, cancer awareness-themed tattoos.

"When we moved into the [Norwich Shopping] Plaza, we were just putting ourself in a position to finally be able to give back to the community," he explained. "I really wanted to keep our money local. So through just clients hooking me up with Chenango Health Network, they put me in touch with them and what I started to do in the beginning was little tattoos, like little breast cancer tattoos. I would charge $50 a piece, and then whatever I made in a day I would donate."

He said the fundraiser did well each year, but over time numbers decreased, as "there’s only so many ribbons you can do before a lot of people have them."

But he and his family still wanted to find a way to support the Cancer Financial Assistance Program. In 2017, he said his wife Alicia came up with the idea to build a small tattoo stand out of old pallets, where their daughters could give temporary tattoos for $1 each.

"Alicia and I started having kids, our kids are getting a little bigger, how can we hook them into some community service, give back to the public, just teach them this is a great thing we’re doing," said Lein. "I guess it’s just my nature sometimes, but I wouldn’t put a big price tag on what we’re going to make. And then all of a sudden the traction; The paper got ahold of it, three networks got ahold of it, and the girls ended up making over $3,000 the first year."

He said Alicia has been the driving force behind the fundraiser each year, along with the hard work and support of their daughters, Maddie, Jocelyn, Julia, and Laura. They have held the fundraiser every year since 2017, except for last year.

The support from the community has been obvious: the family raised $10,149 for the Cancer Financial Assistance Program in the first six years, and this year they were able to raise $600 to donate to the program.

Lein said his tattoo clients are also supportive of their efforts, donating additional funds toward the cause after getting tattooed.

"Even my clients, I’m in here running my business, and they’ve seen it and they’re like, well I’m not going to be around that day. One guy, after he tips me, after what he paid, he said here’s $50 for the girls. It’s awesome," he said.

The fundraiser has also grown over the years. This year the event included not only a wide variety of temporary tattoos to choose from, but also lemonade, a bake sale, single-serve ice cream donated by Gilligan's, coupons for a free cheese pizza slice donated by Magro's, and bracelets made by Jocelyn.

Lein said it was important to them to include their daughters in the effort, to teach them the value of giving back to others and supporting their community. His hope is their service to the community will cause a ripple effect, inspiring others to find ways they can give back, too.

"Paying it forward. What we instill in them, hopefully they instill in our grandkids," said Lein. "It can spread and be a good cause and the more people that see that, even kids of their age, it’s like, 'hey, I want to get involved in community service.'"

"I just think it’s important because it's helping out people," said Julia. "I was really sad when we didn’t get to do it last year, because this is one of my favorite things of the summer that we get to do."

"It’s also one of the things I love about the summer, and I love giving back to other people," Jocelyn added.

Lein said his oldest daughter, Maddie, also had the opportunity to meet some of the people directly impacted by the Cancer Financial Assistance Program, which really drove home the impact their efforts have on the community.

"Let’s take care of our neighbors, because our community, that’s the structure of who we are," said Lein. "[It's] scary, because of all the people that are being afflicted with this awful [disease]. But I mean, cancer touches all of us, directly or indirectly throughout our lives."

The Chenango Health Network Cancer Financial Assistance Program provides assistance to Chenango County residents who have been diagnosed with cancer. The program is split into two categories: breast cancer, which is funded through the St. Agatha Foundation, and non-breast cancers, which is funded solely through donations.

Chenango Health Network Cancer Support Specialist Sandy Myers said the program primarily provides financial assistance for treatments and prescriptions not covered by insurance, and gas cards to assist with the cost of transportation to and from medical appointments.

Applications for both programs are available at ChenangoHealth.org by clicking the "Programs" drop-down menu and selecting "Financial Assistance For Cancer Patients."


Those who would like to support the Cancer Financial Assistance Program can donate at any time at ChenangoHealth.org under the "Donate" tab.

For more information on Chenango Health Network and their programs, visit ChenangoHealth.org or the Chenango Health Network Facebook page.