The Tour de Georgia has benefitted the Georgia Cancer Coalition for five years and many of the starters at each stage have done their part to battle cancer and aid in cancer prevention, research and treatment. The starter in Peachtree City, which is where the race officially begins this year, is Savannah Solomon, a cancer survivor, currently a senior at Georgia Tech.

Solomon is the founder of Red Carpet Day and President and Founder of Heart of Passion, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to the emotional support of young people with cancer. Red Carpet Day is an annual retreat for teens dealing with cancer. The event consists of outings to places like Six Flags, dances and other fun excursions. The first one was held in Atlanta in May 2002 and the program has expanded to Texas and Chicago, Ill. as well.

Each city offers something a little different but one thing is always the same, the teens get to have fun with people who are or have been in the same boat. They offer each other comfort and encouragement and have a really good time while doing so.

“This event and this organization filled a unique niche that I knew first-hand wasn’t being filled,” Solomon said. Red Carpet Day has helped thousands of teens since its inception and Heart of Passion, Inc. creates a support system for Solomon and her projects.

Solomon was approached to be the official starter for this year’s race at the annual Fayette Woman Dinner. Though she has never been to the Tour de Georgia before, she is looking forward to the opportunity to help kick things off.

“I’m really excited to to be a part of this,” Solomon, a 2003 graduate of Sandy Creek High School, said. “The course has gone by our house in the past and this will be cool to be a part of.”

Solomon is also excited to be doing something that ties in with Fayette County, because the community has always been so supportive of her and her efforts.

“In 2002, there was a story about me in the paper and Red Carpet Day and within a week $63,000 had been donated,” Solomon said.
Solomon and Heart of Passion are launching another program this year and they could use some help. They are putting together “Passion Packs” which are basically hospital survival packs for those who have been recently diagnosed with cancer. They will include everything from games and DVDs to pajamas and soaps.
“One thing I hated when I was in the hospital was the soap, so we put good soap in there, as well as things to do like card games or silly putty,” Solomon said.

They accept item donations as well as monetary donations for the creation of more packs, which are then distributed to various hospitals.
Solomon would love to be able to run her organization as a full-time job, but she will graduate this August with a degree in Economics and a secondary degree in International Affairs. She may even want to teach high school in her future. Though she has been in remission for three years, cancer, specifically supporting young people with cancer, will never be far from her mind.

Within five years, she would like to see Red Carpet Day events in 10 cities across the country, serving teens in every geographical region in the nation.

For more information on Red Carpet Days, Passion Packs or how you can get involved, visit www.heartofpassion.net

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