Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lorraine Tallman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Lorraine , thanks for joining us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

I love when we are able to help a young warrior! They often share with us a dream or a way that we can create “the most best day” for them. An example is a warrior knowing they only have a couple of weeks left to live and they just wanted to feel sand under their feet with their family. We had the honor of creating that forever memory for their entire family but making it a reality. It is truly the smallest acts of kindness that guide our families during the hardest journey of their life. Helping our families with the here and now everyday challenges is the reason I do what I do”. – Lorraine Tallman, CEO and Founder of Amanda Hope Rainbow Angels

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Lorraine is the driving force behind Amanda Hope Rainbow Angels. Her experience in the pediatric cancer world sparked her lifelong devotion to advocacy and support for children and their families. She is committed to fulfilling her daughter, Amanda’s, wish to provide dignity and comfort to all children battling life-threatening diseases. Lorraine shares her inspirational story at ONS conferences and corporate team building events. She serves on the Family Advisory Council and Memorial Service Grievance Committee at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Lorraine teaches ‘Family Centered Care’ classes to new healthcare professionals. She is a speaker for Mother’s Grace, MASK magazine, the Child Life Specialist Association, and many other organizations. Lorraine was awarded the Phoenix Business Journal’s Healthcare Heroes Innovator Award in 2018, Edgar H Hernandez Humanitarian Award in 2019 and was an Athena Award Nominee in 2020. She also shared Amanda’s experience with Bard to inspire the medical device AllPoints Port Access System Port Stabilizer, what we like to call the “Amanda Needle”.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Iwas first brought to world of childhood cancer through my daughter’s initial diagnoses in 2009. At age 9 my daughter Amanda was diagnosed with Leukemia. She battled for three long years, then as a side-effect of her treatment, she developed a secondary cancer. At the end of her journey, Amanda made me promise that I would help every child just like her. To honor her wish, I created an adaptive apparel line, called Comfycozy’s for Chemo, that brings comfort and dignity while receiving treatment in the hospital. Now, our organization, Amanda Hope Rainbow Angels, provides the apparel line, free counseling, events, and financial aid to families with a warrior battling cancer. Thousands of children have felt the impact of Amanda’s legacy through our other support services. Our hope is that our programs will bridge the gaps in care and provide the families with additional support during the most challenging times in their lives.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

At Amanda Hope we provide our warriors with activities to take their mind of their treatment! They vary from month to month, but typically include a craft. One activity we did was decorating capes and this activity included puffy paint. We truly learned our lesson that puffy paint takes quite a while to dry and got everywhere in the process! These days when crafting we stick to crayons, colored pencils and markers!

Contact Info:

• Website: amandahope.org
• Instagram: @ahrangels
• Facebook: @ahrangels
• Linkedin: @ahrangels
• Youtube: @Amandahoperainbowangels