Seann McKeel has dedicated her life to helping others: particularly children with cancer. While Covid restrictions made it harder for her community to support Seann McKeel after her own cancer diagnosis, the JWF was there to help.

By Claire Levine

There’s no good time to get cancer, right?

But some times are really worse than others. Ask Seann McKeel.

First, a little about Seann. She is a helper and a creator. For many years, she was a booking agent and a great supporter of local musicians. She was always among the first to commit to fundraisers when someone in the music community needed help.

More recently, she has worked with the Joy RX Music program of the Children’s Cancer Association. She organizes videos of concerts and messages from musicians with words of encouragement to kids with cancer.

And she finds other ways to tie beautiful art to the things she cares about. For example:

According to Japanese legend a person who folds 1,000 origami cranes will be granted a wish. Seann created the knitnotwar project, in memory of a young girl from Hiroshima who folded more than 1,000 cranes in hopes she would survive leukemia. 

Seann designed a knit pattern for cranes and displayed the 1,000 cranes contributed from around the world in a “project for peace” installation. (You can buy the pattern now, and your $5 will go to Mercy Corps.)

But a cancer diagnosis interrupted Seann’s great works. She started treatments for an aggressive form of breast cancer in spring of 2020 – just as our world was shutting down because of a frightening new virus.

What she had anticipated as a time of collective support became one of isolation.

Her friends could not visit her with food, laughter and words of encouragement.

She had expected the infusion room to be filled with the camaraderie of others receiving chemotherapy. Instead, she sat along during those long hours of treatment.

During the shutdown, her friends couldn’t hold fundraising events to help her with expenses and to buoy her spirits.

All this, while the income from her contract work, largely tied to music events, was cut in half.

Talk about a perfect storm.

But the music community found a way to help Seann. The JWF Musician Health & Services Program raised money for out-of-pocket expenses and provided guidance and reassurance. The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, a California-based organization, also created a fund to raise money for Seann.

When Seann started treatment, her income barely covered her monthly insurance premiums, let alone her deductible and other out-of-pocket costs. And the treatments affected her gums and her up-until-then perfect set of teeth. So, she had dental bills, for the first time in her life.

In a normal year, the JWF would have held benefits in coordination with Seann’s support group. But as concerts were not an option, the foundation set up a special on-line fund for Seann.

“I don’t know how I would have gotten through this without the financial help. But as important, in the Covid context,” she said, “was the support I got through the community, in the absence of seeing people and all sorts of other things that couldn’t happen at the time . . .” 

She said that when the names started to show up on the fundraising page, “It was so sweet to see so many people reaching out to help me. Just knowing that everybody was still there. Seeing their messages and their donations” was a huge boost for her.

In addition to the well wishes and the financial help, the contribution of Melanie Bobbett, the JWF volunteer social worker, can’t be overstated. When Seann got a massive bill for the first of what would be ongoing medical injections, she was horrified. So, she called Melanie. “She super talked me through it and helped me understand what it was.” She explained that it was something Seann didn’t have to worry about.

That was just one example of the many times Seann called Melanie to hear her calm explanations and compassionate response to these complex – and scary – medical bills. “Such a great resource!” Seann said. “Such a sweetheart  I could reach out to her at any time.”

Now that the music world is getting back to normal – and Seann is in very good health once again – she is continuing her work on behalf of children with cancer. She’s also looking forward to being there for others in the music community, as they were for her.

And for those who can, she encourages people to contribute to the JWF Musician Health & Services Program.